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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Sermons for All Sects 



7 

CALEB D. BRADLEE 

Senior Pastor of the Church at Harrison Square 
Boston, Mass. 




BOSTON 
W. B. CLARKE & COMPANY 

1888 







COPYRIGHT BY 

W. B. Clarke & Co. 



2De&icate& 

TO MY FRIEND OF MANY YEARS 

JOHN WARD DEAN 

THE SCHOLAR, HISTORIAN, CHRISTIAN 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

i. New Year's Sermon, 9 

" In the beginning God created heaven and earth."— Gen. i. i. 

2. The Winter and the Summer of Life 19 

" Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter." — St. Matt. xxiv. 20. 

3. Seeing Jesus, 29 

" Sir, we would see Jesus."— St. John xii. 21. 

4. Easter, 40 

"When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked." — 
Acts xvii. 32. 

5. The Everlasting Doors, 50 

" Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; 
and the King of glory shall come in." — Ps. xxiv. 7. 

6. Restless Desire, 61 

" Be still. "— Ps. xlvi. 10. 

7. The Gifts of the Past, 71 

"Other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors." — St. 
John iv. 38. 

8. Everything Uncertain, 81 

"Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may 
bring forth." — Prov. xxvii. 1. 

9. Holy Trifles, 92 

"A handful of corn." — Ps. lxxii. 16. 

ro. Failures and Anticipations, 102 

"Not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off." — 
Heb. xi. 13. 

[i. The Mount of Transfiguration, no 

" Let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, one 
for Elias." — St. Matt. xvii. 4. 

[2. The Strange Intermingling of Events, 120 

" As if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel." — Ezek. x. io. 



8 CONTENTS 

PAGE 

13. The Importance of the Present Hour, 129 

" Now is the accepted time." — 2 Cor. vi. 2. 

14. Manners, 139 

" So was the king's manner." — Esther i. 13. 

15. The Decay of the Soul, 149 

"Our lamps are gone out." — St. Matt. xxv. 8. 

16. Jesus Christ the True Foundation, 161 

" Other foundation can no man lay than Jesus Christ." — i Cor. iii. 1 1. 

17. Death Impossible, 171 

" Thou shalt not die." — Judges vi. 23. 

18. The Fallen Stars, 177 

"I saw a star fall from heaven."— Rev. ix. i. 

19. The Renewing Spirit, 188 

" A new spirit within you." — Ezek. xi. 19. 

20. The Burying of the Talent, 197 

" I was afraid, and . . . hid thy talent in the earth." — St. Matt. xxv. 25. 

21. God a Spirit, 206 

" God is a Spirit." — St. John iv. 24. 

22. Loneliness, 215 

" I am left alone." — Rom. xi. 3. 

23. God Knows, 224 

"The Lord God of gods, he knoweth." — Josh. xxii. 22. 

24. The Death of the Year, . . . . , 235 

"As yesterday when it is past." — Ps. xc. 4. 

25. The Selling of our Birthright, 244 

" Esau despised his birthright." — Gen. xxv. 34. 

26. Walking with God, 255 

" Enoch walked with God." — Gen. v. 22. 

27. The True Self, 264 

" Look to yourselves." — 2 John 8. 

28. Spiritual Arithmetic, 274 

"Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have 
therefore?"— St. Matt. xix. 27. 



I. 

NEW YEAR'S SERMON. 

"In the beginning God created heaven and earth." — Gen. i. i. 

THERE is a considerable satisfaction in believing 
the words of the text just as they are written ; 
and however much our philosophy may talk about the 
eternity of matter, however much our metaphysics may 
assert that heaven and earth could not begin, and in 
whatever intellectual jumble or gymnastics or cloudy 
mystery we may be thrown when we define any point 
as a commencement, yet our faith rejoices in the feel- 
ing, assurance, and comforting benediction that there 
is no limit to God's power, that there is no rival on 
God's throne, and that there is no interminable life 
behind our God. If God and matter be both eternal, 
then there are two Gods ; and, if matter existed before 
the Father, then God is dethroned, or we are subjected 
to a government that has no name, no identity, and no 
guiding fellowship. Let us then hear with patience, 
with considerable comfort, and with an earnest joy 
the declaration, " In the beginning God created heaven 
and earth." 

The first New Year's celebration, therefore, took 
place at the dawning of creation; and what a joyous 



IO SERMONS 

festival it must have been, what a glorious announce- 
ment, what a tremendous profusion of gifts, and what 
wonders, surprises, and glories were then bounteously 
revealed ! The birth of the sun, moon, and stars, of 
land and water, of man and woman, — just think of it! 
What glorious New Year's telegrams God sent to 
empty space, when He called the world into being ! 
and how grandly He has been renewing, each year 
ever since, these emblems of His bounty, these types 
of His love, and these messages of His grace! 

Our first animating and prevailing thought on the 
threshold of the new days should be that every one of 
us has gifts from Almighty God. 

No matter how poor nor how obscure nor how wicked 
we may have been or are or may continue to be, still 
many splendid presents are sent from Heaven, bearing 
our name, awaiting our acceptance and use, and hallow- 
ing our daily experience. 

Life is given to us with all its privileges, powers, 
and glories, — a life watched over by angels, permeated 
by divine inspiration, engirdled by celestial promises, 
commissioned to perform mighty deeds, and somehow 
affiliated by spiritual bonds to the Creator Himself; 
and light is given to us, that our work may be irradi- 
ated, our health enforced and encouraged, and our 
hopes evoked and strengthened ; and darkness is given 
to us for our repose and clearer thinking, and that we 
may the better enjoy, by the contrast, the days in which 
we dwell; and mental vigor is given to us, by which we 
can measure the beauties, bounties, and glories around 
us, and thus become enthralled by the generous pro- 



NEW YEARS SERMON II 

visions that God has so lavishly made for the enrich- 
ment of our culture, the completion of our joy, and the 
glorification of our souls. Above all, a soul is given 
to us, by which we can somewhat compare time with 
eternity, earth with heaven, and rightly measure duty, 
responsibility, and judgment. Thanks, then, be to 
God, for these perpetual, holy, and inestimable boun- 
ties of life, light, darkness, mind, and soul ; and may 
we prove our sense of the value of the possession by 
our fidelity in the use of such a precious, holy, and 
gracious bestowal ! 

When we have found that there is a beginning to 
everything, and that there is a Creator, self-existent, 
who produced and is producing all things, let us not be 
in the least troubled about the chronology of the earth. 
No matter whether the world should be called six 
thousand or six million or six billion of years old. I 
have found my God, and I have found the Originator 
of all these grand mysteries above, around, and under- 
neath me ; and this is enough. I do not want the exact 
date of the world's birth, for it would be foolish for 
me to get excited about so trivial a matter; and it is 
enough that the earth was born, that it was born in a 
good time, and that in it are many valuable things, 
about which we must study, the possession of which we 
must sometimes appropriate, and the glory of which 
ought to consecrate our souls. The Book of Genesis 
was written for some other, better, and holier purpose 
than to stir up our foolish quarrels about the length of 
ancient days or years ; and the grand truth that we 
must gather from this part of the Bible is simply the 



12 SERMONS 

fact which its name betokens, and which we have thus 
far endeavored to set forth, — namely, that there was a 
commencement. Yes, we are to learn this inspiriting 
truth : that there is a genesis to the Bible, creation, 
and all things except Almighty God. 

God out of nothing created something. Then the 
duty seems clear that we must constantly create some- 
thing out of the slight materials at hand. 

In every-day matters, how wonderfully the divine 
law of creation is obeyed ! for mountains have been 
tunnelled, rocks have been cleft in twain, forests have 
been levelled, rivers have been bridged, space has been 
annihilated, the atmosphere has been harnessed to wire, 
the heavens have been invaded, and the secrets there 
have been somewhat wrested by a telescope, oceans 
have been navigated, light has been imprisoned and 
compelled to obey, being turned into a portrait painter, 
and the earth has been lacerated, scourged, cut, and 
hollowed, till, tired of the treatment or forced to sub- 
mit, it has paid its ransom in coal, gold, silver, iron, 
lead, copper, and in other valuable, attractive, and 
important minerals. 

In fact, human beings, taking lessons from the high- 
est and the holiest source, have done nothing but 
create ever since creation ; and we may yet look also 
for more wonders, for soon will the balloon be navi- 
gated, so that the winds will not overthrow it, nor the 
tempests conquer it, nor fire destroy it. Ay, soon 
shall discoveries and inventions not yet conceived daz- 
zle our eyes, excite our gratitude, and fill us with a holy 
wonder. But, friends, while we have worked upon 



NEW YEARS SERMON 1 3 

material things, have we remembered also our spiritual 
obligations, and have we created ourselves into noble 
patriots, heroic Christians, and into the pattern set 
before us on the mount ? 

It was easy enough to build a railroad ; but it was 
not so easy to join the heart to the head, so that 
neither heart nor head should act without the advice, 
consent, and benediction of the other. It was easy 
enough to plan the telegraph, thus being able to speak 
to your friend a thousand miles away, seeking his kind 
advice ; but it was not so easy to establish a communi- 
cation with heaven, thus speaking to God, gaining His 
counsel continually, and bringing heaven to earth. It 
was easy enough to plunge into the earth, disturbing its 
equanimity, and making it disgorge its treasures ; but 
it was not so easy for us to plunge into ourselves, find- 
ing the precious minerals in our own brain or heart, 
and knowing the value of our God-given natures. It 
was easy enough to catch light, making it yield a pho- 
tograph of our features ; but it was not so easy to catch 
spiritual light, making it yield a photograph of our char- 
acters so faithfully that we should at once be led to 
contrition, consecration, and reformation. We might 
even scale the firmament, labelling the stars, and 
chronicling their birth, changes, and all the phenomena 
connected with them ; but it would not be so easy for 
us to scale God's throne, label His mercies, and chron- 
icle their history, and all the wonders that cling to 
them. 

Ah, my friends, I fear we have not attended to the sec- 
ond creation, which has been so graphically described 



14 SERMONS 

all through Scripture, under the titles of new birth, re- 
generation, with other names as grand and as sublime 
as these. How was it with Jesus ? What did he teach 
us about creating spiritual and mental power, and about 
making a new heaven and a new earth within our 
minds and our hearts ? Certainly, our Master assured 
us that there was a beginning to the Christian life, and 
that each man, woman, and child, by the grace of God, 
could start that beginning, and could come out of dark- 
ness into marvellous light. His very appeals to the 
people to repent, and his pictures of the shortness of 
time, the certainty of death, and the reality of judg- 
ment, all prove the capacity that rests in each one of 
us, by aid from Heaven of course, to act from higher 
motives, to live more divinely, to square earthly con- 
duct by Heaven's measure, and to arch all existence 
with the consciousness of God and eternity. 

It was a happy new year when Jesus dissected 
human nature, proving how glorious a picture might 
be made of it, were the different parts and powers 
rightly interlaced, inwoven, and balanced, and were the 
whole structure made to resemble somewhat his own 
nature, which was God's picture, painted for the won- 
der, gratitude, and applause of all ages. " In the begin- 
ning God created heaven and earth." 

We have now referred to the necessity that all things 
should have a commencement, and we have endeavored 
to show that none but God can be from everlasting to 
everlasting. And so we would follow out the great 
truth by asking all on this New Year's Sabbath to re- 
joice at the fresh chances, opportunities, and privileges 



NEW YEARS SERMON 1 5 

that are offered for a commencement, for a new start 
on the life-journey, and for the turning over of a nobler, 
better, and holier leaf in the " Book of Life." We may 
have made mistakes before, — ay, we may have fallen 
into a great many slippery places. We may now hang 
our heads and cover our faces, and cry, Alas ! alas ! Let 
us not despond. The past cannot be helped now. That 
is a sad reality outgrown, that is done and determined ; 
and we must not load our coming days with the bur- 
den of other days, nor throw ancient shadows over 
approaching hours, nor take the poison out of our his* 
tory, and cause it to blacken, vitiate, and destroy all 
our future prospects. 

What we have done is done, cannot be undone. We 
cannot rub the record out and write the tablet over, 
and turn a fact into a fiction ; but we can let the past 
alone, leave it with a merciful God, and not trouble our- 
selves with it at the present hour. 

Let us all start the new journey with no clogs upon 
our wheels. Let us start it with hope, courage, faith, 
enthusiasm, and with the solemn resolve that we will 
become better men, women, and children, in all con- 
ceivable ways. I commend you, myself, and all, then, 
to hope, as I bid you God-speed on your new journey. 
Do not get easily discouraged, do not make mountains 
out of mole-hills ; and keep patient, quiet, and easy. 
Laugh a great deal, bid dull care begone, and have 
such a shining face that people shall mistake you for 
angels, looking quite earnestly for your wings ; and 
make your presence a sunbeam, your voice a chant, 
and all about you like the ^Eolian harp that is 



1 6 SERMONS 

started into melody the most sweet, through the gaze 
of your benignant countenance. Hope for better times, 
for better circumstances, and, above all, for a better 
heart. Hope, though the skies lower, the thunder rat- 
tle, the lightning gleam, and although your whole 
experience appear to be a vast uproar, a terrible de- 
feat, and one tremendous cloud. 

I commend you, myself, and all to courage. Do not 
be cowards simply because you cannot see what is be- 
fore you ; for it is no matter what is before any of us, 
as long as our spirit is right, our heart is brave, our 
right arm remains, and God's grace is at hand. Oh, 
let us not grow pale on account of imaginary dangers 
through the influence of our foolish surmises, and on 
account of the empty, vain, and wicked croakings of 
those whom we daily meet ! but let us put our armor 
on, and then march on undisturbed by the rattle of 
shot, the booming of cannon, and the hissing of shells, 
— undisturbed, although all the powers of the infer- 
nal regions have combined to bring about our over- 
throw. 

I commend you, myself, and all to faith. Ay, with- 
out faith we can do nothing. Let us anchor our hearts 
on God, join hands with Jesus, and get large supplies 
of the Holy Spirit. Let us lean upon the Bible, and 
choose for companions the Patriarchs, Prophets, and 
the Apostles. Let us have faith in the possibilities 
that invest our nature, in the grandeur that encircles 
our destiny, and in the eternity that clings to our in- 
fluence. 

I commend you, myself, and all to enthusiasm. Let 



new year's sermon 17 

us put fire into our action, galvanism into our muscles, 
and let a live coal from Heaven's furnace drop upon 
our hearts. Let us live as if we believed in living ; or 
die, if we must die, as if we were not afraid of death. 

I commend you, myself, and all to the solemn resolve 
of becoming better men, or women, or children, in all 
conceivable ways. Ay, this is the time for reform ; for 
we have all of us been dead long enough, and the 
trumpet call of the resurrection is sounding its awful 
peals, and is bidding us awake to righteousness. The 
gentle sister whose presence we invoked, perhaps, as 
the clock was striking twelve on the evening of the last 
year, the beautiful New Year, is with us now ; and she 
comes with mercy on her face, and, with the greatest 
confidence in our possible characters, offers the best 
advice for our souls, and is waiting to hallow our new 
vows at this sacred hour. 

All hail, New Year! Again we bid you all hail ! For 
you bear the olive branch in your hand. Help us to 
greet coming hours and approaching events in a proper 
and a religious spirit. Help us to govern ourselves 
aright, to teach others faithfully, to throw back the 
gates that open upon the holy mysteries of God's love, 
and unfold to us clearly the splendor and magnificence 
and glory of duty well performed, the sweetness and 
the grace of sufferings nobly and beautifully borne, and 
the majesty and the eternity of thoughts rightly and 
righteously moulded. Do not reveal to us those things 
that must in due time fall into our cup, and do not hold 
before us a mirror that shall reflect our coming gains 
or losses ; but do what is better : give us the sacred 



15 SERMONS 

charm that shall keep away evil spirits, and that shall 
change disasters into benedictions. 

Dear friends, I wish all a happy and most blessed 
New Year. May Jehovah bless and keep us, and cause 
His face to shine upon us ; and may thousands and 
tens of thousands of angels watch over and defend us, 
and on earth may we be continually prospered, and in 
heaven may mansions be prepared where we shall be 
forever sheltered! So may God grant through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord and Master ! 



II. 

THE WINTER AND THE SUMMER OF LIFE. 
" Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter." — Matt. xxiv. 20. 

I WANT to give to these words mainly a spiritual 
interpretation, and I hope that they will play around 
the region of the imagination, hover about the heart, 
and stir up the deepest recesses of the soul, until we 
are all strengthened, inspired, and comforted ; for it is 
ordained by a wisdom that never errs, by a love that 
never grows cool, and by a judgment that weighs eter- 
nity as well as time, that at some hour we all must 
take our flight to another kingdom and to a better 
home. Oh, may it not be in the winter ! That is, may 
we not march through the ever open gate when we are 
unprepared, are full of doubt, are covered by despair, 
and are embraced by sin. 

A great many persons pass away from human sight 
at a time when, according to our earthly wisdom, we 
feel that they are the least fitted for the change, when 
we would fain keep them a little longer, teach them a 
great deal more, and give to them better credentials for 
their celestial visit ; but that cannot be helped now, 
and they have gone to a merciful God, while to His 
blessed care we must leave them, feeling that they will 



20 SERMONS 



be educated, tutored, and purified in the way most 
fitting, by the process most kind, and by a spiritual 
economy that never allows of an ultimate waste or loss 
or failure. We have nothing to do about the departed, 
for they have passed into other hands ; but we have a 
great deal to do for ourselves, and we must strain every 
muscle of the brain, quicken all the pulses of the heart, 
and rouse to a keener insight all the eyes of the soul, 
so that our flight shall not be in the winter, but shall 
come when we are basking in the light, warmth, and 
beauty of the glorious summer of a noble faith and of 
a splendid Christian consecration. 

How finely has the other world been called the 
" Summer Land " ! and let us all try to go, as summer 
birds, into its garden of peace, its groves of plenty, and 
cathedrals of glory. I want to ask everybody, not with 
any ecclesiastical austerity, not with any dogmatical 
intent, and entirely free from a selfish curiosity, but 
with the most cordial interest for each one's true wel- 
fare, with the most sincere desire for the joy of all, 
and with a sweet, sacred, and tender gaze into the 
sacred longings of each soul, Are you prepared to 
die ? Or, rather, are you prepared to live, not here, 
but there, where the greater part of your existence will 
be spent, where your years will be eternal, and where 
your true self will be published ? I am considerably 
surprised at the zeal with which so many strive to get 
along in this world, and at the amount of time, labor, 
pain, and anxiety that are spent and endured for that 
which at any moment they may be obliged to give up, 
especially when so little attention is paid to the accu- 



THE WINTER AND THE SUMMER OF LIFE 21 

mulation of that spiritual coin which can always be 
kept, which never gets tarnished, which is current in 
the Eternal Kingdom, and which is cordially recognized 
in the banks of the Celestial City. Suppose that we 
live to be a hundred years old, — and, ah, how few of 
the children of God will ever see half of that time ! — 
yet, when the hour comes for the flight, we shall feel 
that our days were few, and, as we look foward to the 
billions and the trillions of years that are to be spent 
in another condition, we shall wonder that we have 
thought so little of that kingdom that is to have the 
possession of us for so vast a period. Let me not be 
misunderstood. I do not wish that any one should be 
all the time brooding over the future or should neglect 
the present, and I want that all should banish always 
a long face and sepulchral tones ; for God does not ask 
for dreamers, but for workers, and we should make but 
poor specimens of humanity if we gave up all our pow- 
ers to speculating about the spirit world. 

What I ask is, not that we should extinguish the 
present, but that we should illuminate it. Let us live 
to-day after God's holy law, and then to-morrow will 
take care of itself. Only let us remember that there 
is a to-morrow, into which results must inevitably leap, 
and which will be tinged somewhat by what we are 
doing now ; and let us carry into our daily deeds the 
mighty spirit of a holy accountability. We must take 
care of our family of course, we must attend to our 
out-door affairs, and we have the obligations of friend- 
ship and of neighborhood to greet ; but let all these 
duties be sanctified by prayer, consecrated by a devout 



2 2 SERMONS 

trust, and bound somehow to the throne of Almighty 
God by cords that are woven by angel fingers. Let us 
enter upon the work of the flesh, feeling that every 
action vibrates through heaven, and is there recorded 
to our honor or to our shame. Let the merchant put 
at the head of every page of his ledger, — in thought, if 
not by the written word, — "Thou God seest me" ; and 
let him make every bargain under the inspiration of 
that august declaration, "Thus saith the Lord." Let 
him remember the claims of the distressed, stirred up 
to benevolence by the apostolic exclamation, " God 
loves a cheerful giver"; and let him wake up each Sun- 
day morning with the ancient command stereotyped 
upon his brain and his heart, "Remember the Sabbath 
Day, to keep it holy." Let the mechanic, the profes- 
sional man, and every man, woman, and child " seek 
the Lord while He may be found, and call upon Him 
while He is near," remembering that He is with us 
always, even unto the end, — with us in every machine 
that we make, in every paper that we write, in every 
word that we speak, and in all our household duties, 
waiting for our penitence, craving our consecration, 
and urging us to be faithful. Friends, that our flight 
may not be in the winter, we must plant a good many 
more flowers in the garden of our hearts, and we must 
pull up a great many weeds that are nestling quite 
complacently in the conspicuous spots of the inner 
citadel. We must plant chastity, humility, serenity, 
courage, and devotion ; and we must weed up and weed 
out selfishness and all its kindred sins. 

Chastity. "The pure in heart shall see God." We 



THE WINTER AND THE SUMMER OF LIFE 23 

must keep the mind, body, and heart clear as crystal. 
Let us think only great and noble thoughts, feel only 
high and sacred affections, and bear in memory con- 
tinually that our bodies are the "temples of God." 
Nothing can stand in the place of this inward or out- 
ward cleanliness, to any avail. Politeness, chivalry, 
and all their refined associates are but the masquerade 
of it ; and, if we desire an easy, beautiful, and sub- 
lime ascent to God, we must be inwardly, outwardly, 
thoroughly, consistently, publicly, and privately pure. 
This is the flower that the spiritual gardener calls 
the jessamine, because it is so sweet, fragrant, and 
attractive. 

Again, let us plant humility. " Blessed are the meek, 
for they shall inherit the earth." This is the lily of 
the valley, that is so beautiful and so graceful, drooping 
its head with such exquisite loveliness, and yet shining 
all the time with a glory that enchants, and somehow 
festooning the mind and the heart with a sublime 
attractiveness. It is a small flower, — it will not take 
up much room, — and can we place it around the edges 
of our character ; but it will challenge more attention, 
charm more hearts, and sanctify more lives than many 
virtues of a larger growth. Let us be humble. Why 
not ? Everything we have is loaned ; while the loan 
is on call, and the call, too, may come at any minute. 
Why, then, should we not keep all high feelings back, 
and, as is proper for servants and borrowers, wear our 
honors gratefully, gracefully, and sweetly, ready at any 
time to have them plucked, and ready at all times to 
give them up ? 



24 SERMONS 

Next let us plant serenity. Let us remember that 
Christ said, " Peace, be still," even to the angry winds 
and the boisterous waves ; and so let us to our hearts 
say the same thing, amid all the winds and waves of 
circumstances, as they beat against the little, frail bark 
of our mortal tenement. One has sweetly said : — 

" I know not what shall befall me, 
God hangs a mist o'er my eyes ; 
And at each step in my onward path 
He makes new scenes to arise, 
And every joy He sends to me 
Is a strange and sweet surprise. 

" It may be that He has waiting, 
For the coming of my feet, 
Some gift of such rare blessedness, 
Some joy so strangely sweet, 
That my lips shall only tremble 
With the thanks they cannot speak. 

" O wistful, blissful ignorance ! 
It is blessed not to know : 
It keeps me still in the arms of God, 
Which will not let me go, 
And hushes my soul to rest 
In the bosom that loves me so. 

" So I go onward, not knowing, — 
I would not if I might : 
I would rather walk in the dark with God 
Than walk alone in the light ; 
I would rather walk with Him by faith 
Than walk alone by sight." 

This virtue of serenity is the little harebell that 
grows under adverse circumstances, and that is found 



THE WINTER AND THE SUMMER OF LIFE 



2 5 



even on mountain heights. Oh, then, let us be serene, 
although we may be deserted, although everything 
seems to go against the grain of our will, and although 
we may be engirdled with intense pain ! yet let us be 
resolved that nothing shall cast a ruffle across the 
sweet peace in our eyes, and may our looks always 
show that we are transfigured by the radiance that is 
cast upon us from the lights that are hung upon the 
battlements of the Celestial City. Like the Pilgrim in 
Bunyan's " Progress," even in our greatest straits let 
us take out our "roll," and then read Scriptural prom- 
ises, and take out our musical instruments, and then 
play divine melodies ; and thus giants will be con- 
quered, beasts will run away, ditches will be filled up, 
rough places will be made plain, while the desert will 
blossom as the rose. 

Let us plant courage. The Psalmist says, " Be of 
good courage, and He shall strengthen thy heart." 
This let us call the snow-flower in the garden, that 
comes up in early spring notwithstanding the rough 
weather, that wins us by its beauty when all things 
else are bleak. We cannot live here without a large 
quantity of bravery, for there is quite an amount of 
fighting that we must do all the time. Saint Paul 
speaks of the armor that we ought to wear ; and he 
mentions the shield, helmet, and shoes. " Your feet 
shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace ; 
above all, taking the shield of faith, . . . the helmet of 
salvation, the sword of the Spirit." That we may use 
these weapons aright, we must never think of being 
cowards. We must expect hot shell, look for leaden 



26 ' SERMONS 

balls, and watch for sabre cuts ; but remember we must 
press on, and press on, until the stirring bugle notes 
from Canaan's shore shall order a retreat. And may- 
nothing drive us from the field save a peremptory com- 
mand from the head-quarters that are established in the 
city of the New Jerusalem. 

Let us plant devotion. The Master says, "Watch 
and pray, that ye enter not into temptation." Well 
might all the flowers represent devotion, — those that 
bloom only in the morning, those that turn only to the 
sun, and those that bend to the gentlest breeezes of 
heaven, — all, all. We must be full of the spirit of wor- 
ship, would we always be thoroughly prepared for what- 
ever Providence sees fit to send. There is no peace 
and no joy like that which talking with Heaven will 
certainly bring. And thus we obtain a chastity that is 
stanch, clear, comprehensive, and enduring ; we get 
a safeguard for our humility, by which it is kept from 
the invasion of all petty tyrants, so that it is encircled 
with a sure defence that no possible enemy can break 
down ; and thus our serenity is established beyond a 
peradventure, being kept ever unruffled, and being 
made continually sweet, sacred, and comforting; and 
our courage is armed with celestial fire, being placed in 
authority over the artillery of heaven. Yes, devotion 
is the very mainspring of all spiritual success, while 
it perfumes the soul that clings to it forever and 
forever. 

But planting, my friends, is not all that we have to 
do in the garden of the soul : we must also clear out 
the weeds, so that the whole surface of the ground 



THE WINTER AND THE SUMMER OF LIFE 27 

shall not be disfigured, and so that no one can say of 
us, as was said thousands of years ago, " I went by the 
field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man 
void of understanding; and, lo ! it was all grown over 
with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, 
and the stone wall thereof was broken down." 

There is a little weed that many years ago was im- 
ported from Europe by one who, not knowing its 
nature, thought that it was a very attractive flower. 
He planted it in one of our country towns, and, lo ! our 
nation now is filled with it ; while it falls by the thou- 
sands and by the tens of thousands each year under the 
relentless plough. Let that weed typify the monstrous 
sin that swarms in all the gardens of the human heart, 
caused by improper self-seeking ; for out of selfishness 
all wrongs are apt to spring, all pains are sure to come, 
and everything bad and unholy will constantly spring 
forth. Ah, friends, we must look out for the good of 
all, — yes, the good of the whole, although we may only 
be able to bring about that grand result through great, 
terrible, and heart-rending tribulation. 

" Pray that your flight be not in the winter." 
I have endeavored to show you, my friends, what will 
make your lives always a happy and holy summer sea- 
son, so that, when you are called to " go up higher," it 
will be when the air is redolent with the music of the 
birds, fragrant with the breath of the fields, cheerful 
with the light and the heat of the sun, gorgeous with 
the splendor of the flowers, and every way peaceful, 
enchanting, and glorious. But this can only come 
when you have made yourselves in life and in mind 



28 SERMONS 

and heart, in soul, and all through and through, a Chris- 
tian after the true pattern. But it will come, and with 
a splendid magnificence, with a holy echo, and with a 
joyous apocalypse, when you are really a child of God, 
and when you are without any doubt a disciple of 
Jesus, and when all that see you cannot help knowing 
that you are encompassed and glorified by the graces of 
the spirit. You must be a religious man, or a religious 
woman, or a religious child, would you take your flight 
thus pleasantly. The conditions are easy, the promise 
is great, and the reward is sure. Employ some one 
who will show you how to trim your garden, find some 
one who is expert in the knowledge of the chemistry of 
that kind of soil, and look out for one who can tell the 
nature of each plant, — how it grows, what size it should 
attain, what garment it should wear, and what flavor give 
out, — and take one who knows when to trim, when to 
enrich, and when to pluck. Take one who has studied 
sunshine and clouds, night and day, and one who is 
thoroughly acquainted with all the different powers of 
the varying seasons. Then you will surely reap a glo- 
rious harvest. Do not say that such an expert cannot 
be found, and do not exclaim that it is too expensive 
for you to look him up ; for He is to be had for the 
asking, "without money, without price." And you 
know very well that such is the promise, such the priv- 
ilege, and such the benediction reserved, offered, and 
pressed upon all the children of God. 

Is it not written, and have you not read it, and will 
you not read it a great many times more before you 
take your flight, "Ask, and ye shall receive ; seek, and 
ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened " ? 



III. 

SEEING JESUS. 

"Sir, we would see Jesus." — St. John xii. 21. 

I AM not in the least surprised that those Greeks 
whom the words of the text commemorate wanted 
to see Jesus, and we should have had the same wish, 
had we lived in their day ; and, even now, some of us 
feel that those who did see him had the advantage 
over the believers of future ages. When one appears 
upon the stage of life, and accomplishes great things, 
there is a natural desire to gaze at such a person. 
Indeed, the uppermost question upon everybody's lips 
is, " How does he look ? " Not only do we want to 
know the color of his eyes and the cast of the counte- 
nance, but we also desire to understand all about him 
— all about his manners, speech, and the general im- 
pression that he conveys. Tell us all about him, we 
say. Oftentimes, also, when we see merely human 
beings, we are disappointed, as we find out the truth; 
for the reputation, in some cases, is far ahead of the 
reality, and entirely out of keeping with a man's bodily 
presence. In fact, in many cases, and in a majority of 
cases, we get more out of a man by never seeing him 
than we should if we were in his presence every day 



$0 SERMONS 

of his life ; for familiarity has a tendency to rub off and 
to tarnish respect. Great as George Washington was, 
he is greater to-day than he was one hundred years 
ago. Read of one's doings, study one's works, admire 
one for that which you know he is really worth, and 
then no matter if you never meet him ; for you have 
secured all you want from him, possess the best part 
of him, and he is doing for you all that God meant that 
he should do. His mind and soul belong to you ; and 
is not that enough ? You tell me that the disciples of 
old were more favored than the Christians of this day, 
because they were so constantly with the Master, could 
hear him talk, could talk with him, mingle with him at 
the festive board, walk the streets at his side, sail on 
the water in his company, and were always within reach 
of his influence. What opportunities, you exclaim, they 
had for obtaining a spiritual life, what glorious advan- 
tages were theirs, what exquisite benedictions, and how 
happy and favored they were! Oh, if we had been 
there, we would never have felt doubts, shed tears, had 
any trouble whatever, and we should have been good 
right away, and right earnestly. But now, you add, we 
are in the twilight of revelation, and now ages have 
passed since that beautiful voice charmed the air and 
that majestic presence sanctified the earth. Now we 
have to take our faith at second or third hand, and 
have to sift documents, balance probabilities, and re- 
move a great deal of rubbish, while, after all our search, 
we are covered with mist. Why was it that we were 
left so bereaved ? 

But such thoughts are erroneous, such reasoning is 



SEEING JESUS 3 1 

a mistake, and such complaints are both weak and 
wicked. We are as much favored as were the disciples, 
— ay, more so. Of course, we cannot behold Jesus in 
the flesh, take him by the hand, and walk the fields with 
him. But I do not see that this kind of intercourse 
accomplished what it should with those who enjoyed it; 
for it did not make them more humble, sacrificing and 
devout. "They all forsook him, and fled." Not till 
they communed with him as a risen Lord, — just as we 
can and do this day, — not till then were they helped, 
inspired, fortified. Buckminster once said something 
like this : " If you please, compare the age in which you 
live with the darkness and the corruption of the age 
that gave birth to the disciples. And will you exchange 
the general purity of manners, and the wide-spread in- 
fluence of the Church, and the high tone of society 
to-day for the profligacy of the Roman court and the 
superstition and the hypocrisy of the Jewish Sanhe- 
drin ?" "Just to see Jesus in the body and not to un- 
derstand him, — in fact, rather to misunderstand him, — 
for the sake of this will you wipe civilization away, 
will you blow out progress, will you go back to 
heathen gloom ? I think not, for you have been treated 
much better than the early believers. You have the 
privilege of witnessing the indorsement of Christ and 
Christianity in the sublime effects of their working 
through hundreds of years. You have seen supersti- 
tion crumbling before their tread, sin shrinking abashed 
from their presence, and hearts humbled, cleansed, and 
cheered by their benediction. You have seen death 
play the coward, the grave blossom into beauty, trial 



32 SERMONS 

shine with diamond brightness, time put on the garb 
of a holy ambassador, eternity become cheerful, and all 
the events of life wear a golden glory as Christianity 
has grown strong. Would you give up this magnifi- 
cent outlook that is your bounty, privilege, and glory ? 
Would you give it up, and go back to the alphabet of 
Christianity, and once more misunderstand the great 
Leader of the Church ? " 

" To-day, you are safe in believing. You may go 
where you please and proclaim the word. No one will 
turn against you. The house of the great will be 
gladly opened at your coming. The poor will cling to 
you with a tenderness that is surprising. Your path 
will be crowned with garlands. It will be like the 
march of a victorious general who is followed by will- 
ing vassals. But, if you go back to the early days of 
which you speak, you must be willing to be everywhere 
spoken against. You must expect to be despised by 
the men of power and influence. You will run the risk 
of being scorned by the poor. You will have to yield 
your body to all kinds of pain and contempt. Scourg- 
ings the most fearful will be yours, and perhaps at last 
you will die upon the cross. Do you covet such a des- 
tiny ? Are you not grateful that the lines have fallen 
to you in pleasant places ? Oh, thank God that He 
has placed you where the radiance of Christianity must 
dawn upon your mind, and where the full brilliancy of 
its glory must flood your soul ! Thank Him that you 
can in quiet count up the triumphs of your Master, and 
that you may revel in a sweet content among the splen- 
dors of his holy achievements." 



SEEING JESUS 33 

"We want to see Jesus." Did those Greeks merely 
want to see a great man ? Was it only curiosity that 
led them to seek the Master? Had they no further 
design than simply to gratify their eyes ? If so, they 
are to be pitied : their journey was a wonderful squan- 
dering of time, and the grandest opportunity of their 
lives was disgraced and shamed. What ! shall they be 
allowed to look at the Son of God merely that they 
may go home and have something of which they can 
boast, merely that they may be able to say, We have 
seen him, and simply that their foolish pride may be 
gratified ? Oh, no ! Such a design as that would have 
been detected in time, and their request would have 
been instantly denied. We believe that they ap- 
proached the Lord with high and holy motives, and 
with a devout and a serious disposition. They wanted 
to see, hear, and judge out of honest and devout hearts; 
they wanted to be made better, and they went to Jesus 
as pupils with minds humble, hearts pure. They went 
prepared to love the Teacher, and they were willing to 
be moved by his kind and gracious speech. Of course, 
they went with their early prejudices, their false edu- 
cation, and continually hampered by the spirit of the 
times ; for this they could not help. Still, without 
doubt, they were eager to be convinced, and they were 
willing to be converted. What those Greeks thought 
when they beheld Jesus, it is left for the imagination to 
picture. Perhaps they were disappointed and bewil- 
dered ! Perhaps everything was different from what 
they had expected ; and yet there must have been a 
charm about the view much greater than they could 



34 SERMONS 

have dreamed. What a valuable period in their biog- 
raphy that day of interview must have been, and how 
their whole lives must have been sweetened and en- 
riched thereby ! We hear no more about them, but 
without doubt they were among the early believers and 
sufferers of the Church. All honor to these seekers 
to-day and forever! Many want to see Jesus to-day, 
not out of curiosity, not with a teachable spirit, not 
with docile hearts, not with a reverential nature, not as 
little children waiting to be led, not because his man- 
ners are so impressive, the tones of his voice are so 
clear and holy, and his precepts so reasonable and pure, 
— and not because he is so good, so great, and holy. 
No, but they wish to see him in order to criticise his 
ways and to call in question his authority. But such 
a view of the Lord may none of the true children of 
God seek or desire. 

"We would see Jesus." We say this earnestly, per- 
haps with a great throbbing at the heart, and with a 
holy enthusiasm, while the eye is kindled with a sacred 
light, and when the whole manner is full of a blessed 
unction. Well, we can see him, and he is not far away 
from any one of us. Ay, he is very near, and he is 
close at hand, much closer than if the flesh covered 
him. Let us not look at him with our bodily eyes, but 
gaze at him with the eyes of the spirit. Let us call 
intuition, emotion, imagination, and faith to our aid ; 
for it is not sight, but it is insight, that finds him, and 
his image is not on the retina of the eye, but it rests 
on the retina of the soul. He is to be found through 
his teachings. 



SEEING JESUS 35 

We judge of people by what they say or do, and thus 
we form a right acquaintance. We know a great many 
persons whom we have never met in the body, simply 
because we have read their writings, and have tasted 
of the waters of inspiration out of their golden cup. 
We cannot say how they look, but we can quickly say 
what they are and how their souls look ; and we feel 
that they are really our friends, although never a word 
has passed between them and us. So can we see 
Jesus. Through his sublime precepts we reach unto 
a knowledge of his great heart, and we gain this view 
not only through their beauty, but their propriety also ; 
through not only their purity, but their perpetuity as 
well. Harmonious these teachings always were, full 
of a rich melody, with a wise adaptation to all existing 
needs, and possessing a power that time can never rub 
out, with a grace that eternity only deepens. They 
were born in one of the most corrupt ages of the world ; 
but they have a dignity and a glory that even the 
angels of heaven cannot exhaust, and which God Him- 
self has blessed. As we practise these precepts, as we 
take them up and incorporate them into our lives, as 
we wreathe them around our hearts, and as we grain 
them into our thoughts and deeds, so do we behold the 
Lord. The more we live like him, the more do we 
apprehend him ; and the higher and the higher that 
we rise to the serene heights of his goodness, all the 
clearer and stronger is he revealed to us in all the plen- 
itude of his power and in all the wealth of his holi- 
ness. As we approach him, he approaches us, grandly 
and beautifully, making himself known to us until we 



36 SERMONS 

righteously glory in the privilege of his companionship. 
Perhaps some of us say that we cannot understand 
about the Lord, why he should come to this world, 
live as he did, teach as he did, and suffer, die, and 
rise again. Well, reason cannot grasp everything, but 
the affections ought to feel something. We are not 
so good as we ought to be, or we should be attracted 
to the Son of God, and we should be somewhat trans- 
figured by his glory. So let us give ourselves to 
self-examination. Let us awake to righteousness, put 
on the garb of duty, march in the Saviour's steps ; 
and, no matter where those steps lead, go to that 
place bravely, patiently, believingly, enthusiastically, 
and prayerfully. Then he who was once a stranger 
will evermore be a friend, and then the amaurosis about 
our spiritual eyes will be miraculously cured. Only as 
we see and know Jesus can we see and know God. 
"He that hath seen me," saith the Lord, "hath seen 
the Father." I speak now no dogma of theology, nor 
am I repeating the creed of any church ; but I am 
giving you simply the revelation of Christ himself. 
Into such beautiful and close communion do the Father 
and Son come ; into such hallowed fellowship are they 
brought. So congenial are their tastes, so amicable 
their judgments, and so uniform their desires, that, 
when one speaks, the other speaks, and, when one acts, 
the other acts ; for they have no separate interests, no 
divided cares, and their association is the most tender 
and sublime. 

Thanks be to God that He has thus given us His 
own image through His Son ! Thanks also be to Jesus 



SEEING JESUS 37 

that he has given us such a glorious portrait of the 
Father ! and thanks be to both, God and Jesus, that 
we are not left alone in this world ! Oh, who would 
be alone in this thick darkness of materialism, with 
no pilot to guide amid the reefs and the shoals on 
the right hand and the left, while passion rages, sin 
howls, and death makes merry with his victims ? Who 
would solve, unguided, the riddle of time ? Who, with- 
out a heavenly unction, would disentangle the web of 
eternity ? 

" Sir, we would see Jesus." It appears that Jesus 
was very much gratified when he heard that these 
strangers wished to see him ; for he exclaimed, " The 
hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified." 
He was pleased that any one thought enough about 
him and about his message to seek an investigation, and 
he was right happy to teach any one who might desire 
to learn. So now is he glad to receive seekers. His 
great heart is open to all who wish for light ; and 
he is ready to explain his message, to justify his ways, 
and to make clear his goodness to all that are eager to 
be enlightened. 

Come, then, to this fount of inspiration, this oracle 
of God, and this emancipator of the soul, — oh, come, 
and be cheered, cleansed, consecrated, and crowned ! 
Come, and you will find within you a well of living 
water, that shall spring up into everlasting life. 

I think we truly see Jesus when we do good, and this 
is the best way of seeing him. I once read a beauti- 
ful piece of poetry called "Jesus' Seat." Although it 
is a little long, I will quote a part of it, and then 
close: — 



38 SERMONS 

" Far, far away, o'er the deep blue sea, 
Lived a man who was kind as kind could be. 
He loved little children, and spread every day 
A table from which none went empty away. 
Poor children came in from the alley and street, 
With rags on their backs and no shoes on their feet, 
Girls and boys, large and small, some naughty and rude ; 
But John Falk loved them all, and did them all good. 

" And, while they were eating, he often would tell 
Of the Lord Jesus Christ, who on earth once did dwell : 
How he loved little children, — each one of them there 
He was watching from heaven with tenderest care, — 
And how happy and blessed would be the child's part 
Who would let that dear Saviour come dwell in his heart. 
Each day, when the children assembled to eat, 
He taught them to offer this grace for their meat : 
' Bless, Jesus, the food thou hast given us to-day, 
And come and sup with us, dear Jesus, we pray.' 

" But once, when the children had finished this prayer, 
One poor little fellow stood still by his chair 
For a moment, then ran to the closet where stood 
The bright cups of tin and the platters of wood. 
' Now what is the matter ? ' said Falk to the child. 
The little one looked in his kind face and smiled. 
' We asked the Lord Jesus just now in our grace 
To sup with us here ; but we've given him no place. 
If he should come in, how sad it would be ! 
But I'll put him a stool close here beside me.' 

" Then the boy, quite contented, sat down to his food. 
He was hungry and tired, and his supper was good. 
But, a few moments after, he heard at the door 
A knock, low and timid, — one knock and no more. 
He started to open it, hoping to meet 
The Lord Jesus Christ, come to look for his seat. 



SEEING JESUS 39 

But, when it was open, he no one could see 

But a poor little child, much poorer than he, — 

His face blue with hunger, his garments so old 

Were dripping with rain, and he shivered with cold. 

' Come in,' cried the boy, in a tone of delight : 

' I suppose the Lord Jesus Christ could not come here to-night, 

Though we asked him to come and partake of our bread. 

So he's just sent you down to us here in his stead. 

The supper is good, and we'll each give you some, 

And tell the Lord Jesus Christ we are glad you have come.' 

Dear friends, who have read this short story, you know 
The words that our Saviour once spake when below. 
If we wish for his presence to hallow our bread, 
We must welcome the stranger he sends in his stead. 
W T hen we set out our feast, this our motto must be : 
; As ye do to my poor, ye have done unto me.' " 



IV. 

EASTER.* 

"When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some 
mocked." — Acts xvii. 32. 

SOME mock now, when we speak of the resurrec- 
tion of Jesus Christ ; and they do so on the general 
ground that there can be no such thing as life after 
death, therefore they say that this claim made for any 
one special person is absurd and false, and not to be 
entertained for a moment. That is, they base their 
arguments on what they call a general law. Ask them 
how they have discovered this general law of universal 
decay, and they will reply, "Through the deductions of 
common sense, through the reports of every-day obser- 
vation, and through a careful sifting of the whole mat- 
ter according to the laws of possibility." And all this 
sounds very well ; but, if we drain out the real meaning 
of the words, all that we can gain from them is simply 
this : We think so, and therefore it must be so. I pro- 
pose, however, to take up the question of Christ's res- 
urrection, on this Easter Sunday, not in the light of 
any poor human guessing, but as I would take up any 
alleged fact, — according to the proofs that are at hand, 

* In the composition of this sermon, I have availed myself of all the arguments I 
could find scattered along the centuries. 



EASTER 41 

pressed upon our notice, and right before the eyes of 
the mind and the soul. That is, let us treat this mat- 
ter as we do any other matter, and, if the evidence be 
sufficient, believe it ; if not, let it go. 

In weighing evidence, too, we are to remember that 
the witnesses must be men of strict integrity. They 
must be of sound mind, and they must be free from 
undue bias and prejudice in favor of the truth that they 
assert. And again, they must be selected, not from any 
one class of men, but from foes as well as friends ; 
for the cross-questioning of an enemy will sometimes 
accomplish a great deal toward the building up of a 
fact. And, once more, the testimony that is given 
must not be all in the same language, or else it will bear 
the appearance of a plot ; but in the main particulars 
it must be alike, or else nothing can be ascertained 
worthy of reliance. And I claim that, in all cases where 
these rules we have stated can be accurately met, no 
jury of twelve men would hesitate about a verdict. 
And I claim that these rules are met, are more than 
met, in the witnesses for the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ, therefore that for a reasonable man there is 
no room left for a doubt about the fact. 

Let us look at this a little closely. I presume that, 
in regard to the characters of the prominent witnesses 
for the resurrection, we may assume that they were 
beyond suspicion, from the fact that their integrity was 
never impeached by their bitterest enemies. And, 
again, we have a right to judge of men somewhat by 
what they say and do ; and, if they also say and do those 
things that are straightforward, honorable, holy, and 



42 SERMONS 

pure, we cannot help trusting them. And in the same 
way we judge that such men are of sound mind, since 
crazy men could not always keep on the square ; and, 
if such men were mad, their opponents would have had 
a very easy way of disposing of them, and would, with- 
out doubt, at once have quickly secured their silence. 
Such men could not have had any undue bias for, 
prejudice for, and great leaning toward a truth the 
upholding of which promised only poverty, disgrace, 
torture, and death. For this sort of rewards is not 
usually considered tempting, beautiful, and attractive. 
The witnesses for the resurrection were not selected 
from any one class of men, but can be culled from all 
classes, from the dearest friends, and from the bitter- 
est foes ; for we call upon the " high priests," the 
" Roman soldiers," Pilate, Herod, the centurion, and 
the mob quite as readily as we do upon John of Ari- 
mathea, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, the 
twelve disciples, and the five hundred, for the collat- 
eral testimony that forms the splendid links in the 
grand chain that confirms the reality. 

Again, the testimony that we present is all very 
different, and yet all somehow very much alike ; in 
minor particulars divergent, but in one grand complex- 
ion singularly harmonious. Let us arrange our pres- 
entation of the case thus : the trial ; the crucifixion ; 
the placing of the body in the tomb ; the tomb found 
vacant ; the appearance of Jesus to one or to many ; 
and his ascension. In regard to the trial, we have the 
testimony of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the Roman gov- 
ernors, the Evangelists, and all the Jewish believers 



EASTER 43 

of the last eighteen centuries ; for all agree that some- 
one by the name of Jesus was tried before Pontius 
Pilate and sentenced to death. And a strange paper 
has been found in the city of Aquila, in the kingdom 
of Naples, by some workmen who were excavating the 
ruins of this buried metropolis ; and, whether the paper 
be true or false, it at least is a link in the massive 
items that go to prove that there was a trial. The 
document is so peculiar, I will quote it : — 

In the year 17, of the Empire of Tiberius Caesar, and the 25th 
day of March, in the city of the Holy Jerusalem, Anna and Caia- 
phas being Priests, Sacrificators of the people of God, Pontius 
Pilate, Governor of Lower Galilee, sitting on the Presidential 
Chair of the Praetory, condemns Jesus of Nazareth to die on the 
cross, between two thieves, the great and notorious evidences of 
the people saying: 1st, Jesus is a seducer. 2nd, He is seditious. 
3rd, He is an enemy of the law. 4th, He calls Himself falsely the 
Son of God. 5th, He calls Himself falsely the King of Israel. 
6th, He entered into the Temple followed by a Multitude bearing 
palm branches in their hands. Order the first centurion, Ouillus 
Cornelius, to lead Him to the place of Execution. Forbid to any 
person whomsoever, either poor or rich, to oppose the death of 
Jesus. The witnesses who signed the condemnation of Jesus are, 
viz.: 1, Daniel Robani, a Pharisee. 2, Joannes Horobable. 3, 
Raphael Robani. 4, Capet, a citizen. 

Jesus shall go out of the City of Jerusalem by the Gate of 
Struenus. 

Contemporaneous history also affords us some clew 
to the trial of Jesus, or at least gives faint outlines 
from which we can deduce the fact. Then, again, this 
trial was announced as a fact at the very time when it 
was very easy to trace the occurrence. Do you sup- 
pose that, if any one should come out in print and 



44 SERMONS 

speak of a trial that happened fifty or one hundred — ay, 
two hundred — years ago, in Boston, that such account 
could stand if it were false ? Why, all the scholars of 
the age would ransack all the niches and all the crev- 
ices of the past, while the whole truth would at once be 
sifted out beyond the shadow of a doubt ; and especially 
would this be the case if on the truth or falsity of the 
statement hung vast interests, the hopes of mankind, 
and the welfare of millions. 

Next look at the crucifixion, for it was not done in 
secret, and it occurred at a time when the whole city 
of Jerusalem was crowded ; for it was the great Passover 
season, and everybody must have known about it, and 
no fictitious statement at such a time, or at any after 
time, could possibly gain credit. Do you suppose that, 
if at any of our May anniversaries the best person in 
Boston should be crucified on Boston Neck, the affair 
could be kept quiet ? Or, if any one now should say 
that several years ago such an event occurred, do 
you think that such a statement would be received 
unchallenged ? We must manage this great question 
in a common-sense, every-day way ; and then the evi- 
dence will grow brighter and brighter, so that we shall 
find no way of escaping belief. 

Again, great occurrences took place on the depart- 
ure to the spirit world of this sufferer. The veil of the 
temple was rent in twain ; disembodied spirits walked 
upon the earth ; and there was a mighty darkness. 
Now, if all this took place, there must have been a 
large number who felt it, were influenced by it, and 
proclaimed it. Well, strange to say, astronomical biog- 



EASTER 45 

raphy bears witness to a great eclipse just at the time 
Jesus died ; and, if I mistake not, several ancient au- 
thors speak of this great shadow upon the land. 

Next look at the placing of the body in the tomb by 
Joseph of Arimathea, for that could not have been 
done without an application to the governor, without a 
written order, and without many witnesses or helpers ; 
and if the account, therefore, were false, very easily 
could governmental records have been searched, and 
the apostles stopped at the very commencement of 
their preaching. All the Sanhedrin had to do was 
simply to show to these preachers the burial-place of 
Jesus, the record of his sepulture by the public author- 
ities, and, if it were necessary, point out his very body 
in the paupers' or criminals' tomb ; and this they could 
not do, for his body was carried dead to the Arimathean 
tomb. 

Again, the tomb is found vacant ; and how is this ? 
In the first place, unusual caution was taken in the 
sealing of the tomb. Then a stone, a massive stone 
that could not be moved save by a great many human 
hands, was placed against the door of it. Then a band 
of soldiers, armed to the teeth, were set at watch all 
around it ; and Roman soldiers, too, always so vigilant 
and so brave, whose sentence was death if they slept, 
were ordered to stand on guard over this precious 
place, and yet the tomb was vacant. This the disciples 
testify, for they say the Lord came to life again ; and 
this the hostile Jews allow, but say the disciples stole 
the body while the soldiers slept. Roman soldiers 
sleep on guard ! Why, that is almost more difficult to 



46 SERMONS 

believe than the resurrection itself. One might have 
slept, and yet that would have been marvellous ; and 
two might have lost themselves in slumber, and that 
would have been an event worthy of being trumpeted 
all over the world. But that all should have slept, that 
would have been a miracle. 

But suppose for a moment that the soldiers did sleep, 
and that they slept naturally : I do not yet see how that 
could help the disciples any. For there was a great 
stone to be removed, the door had to be unsealed ; and 
what human hands could have done that much in the few 
hours that the sentinels are said to be asleep ? Then, 
again, did you ever hear of the solemn execution of 
that guard for their neglect of duty ? And would not 
their crucifixion have been an imposing scene, such as 
would have become indented upon history ? and could 
anything have saved those poor soldiers from an igno- 
minious and a notorious death ? 

Next look at the appearance of Jesus, after his res- 
urrection, to Mary, James, and John ; to the two on 
the way to Emmaus ; to all at table ; to the doubting 
Thomas ; to the disciples when fishing ; and, finally, to 
the five hundred. The testimony to this fact is told 
in a straightforward way, with a perfect naturalness, so 
that, however strange it may appear, it carries convic- 
tion on the face of it, and when added to the previous 
facts is perfectly irresistible. Then, too, you have the 
ascension, the many witnesses, the appearance of the 
angels, and I would fain add, also, the after appearance 
of the disciples. 

How are we able to account for the great change in 



EASTER 



47 



the characters of the disciples, except we admit the 
resurrection ? For we leave them at the time of 
the crucifixion timid, despondent, and running away, 
one denying, and all cowards. Now, what power has 
entered into them, that they are so bold, so willing to 
suffer, and so ready to die for the Master's sake ? Ask 
them, and they will say that it is the risen Lord who 
inspires them, but that until he rose their faith was 
shrouded ; and have we not every reason to accept their 
testimony, or, if we deny it, how can we account for 
the strange phenomena ? Again, my friends, I ask you 
to look at the effects of Christianity. 

The main doctrine of the Christian religion is, as 
you well know, the fact that we shall live again, and 
that Jesus stepped visibly from death to indorse this 
truth. Now for nearly nineteen hundred years has 
this new doctrine been preached, while all the people 
of all ages have been sweetened, strengthened, and 
consecrated by it. But has all this good been based 
on a falsehood, and can so splendid a reformation be 
the offspring of a fiction ? Why, it is contrary to all 
the experience of man, to all the laws of human nature, 
and to all the laws of God. It would be a great deal 
easier to believe in ten thousand resurrections than to 
believe that an untruth could be so prolific of good. 
No, no ! The resurrection of Jesus must be true, or else 
the whole conscience of the world must be readjusted 
and debased. 

There is an objection to the resurrection to which 
I have but briefly hinted, that perhaps deserves a little 
deeper notice. I refer to the pseudo-scientific opposi- 



48 SERMONS 

tion to the doctrine, on the ground that it is impossible, 
according to the laws of nature. I speak of the pseudo- 
scientific mind, because the truly scientific brain never 
limits the possible and never defines the impossible. 
I allow that the dissecting knife can never detect the 
principle of life, nor the keen eye note the passage of 
the retreating breath; but this, however, proves noth- 
ing. The chemist and the anatomist can never analyze 
voice, and yet there is a voice ; they can never describe 
to you thought, and yet there is thought ; and they 
utterly fail when they attempt the solution of anything 
mental or spiritual. And if, therefore, when a man is 
alive, they do not understand him, how can they expect 
to understand him when he is dying, and when he is 
seemingly dead? Their testimony is perfectly useless 
except when yielded in behalf of the body. That is 
to say, they only know as far as they can see, and in 
everything else they only utter their poor guesses. Of 
course, full proof of the resurrection can only come 
when we ourselves rise, and when we behold, face to 
face, the ascended Lord ; and let us get ready for that 
great day of blessed emancipation. But all the proof 
that a man ought to ask is at hand, — evidence as 
strong as any offered on any other subject, and such 
as we readily accept on all other points, every day of 
our lives. 

Let us not, then, be faithless like the doubting 
Thomas, but let us merit the blessing of those "who, 
not having actually seen, yet believe." Let us, on this 
holy Easter, proclaim the risen Lord. A young man 
preparing at the time for the ministry, filled with the 



EASTER 49 

inspiration of a coming Easter, wrote these words 
which I asked him to allow me to use : — 

" Dark was the night, and weary were the hearts 
That wept beside the tomb ; 
The morning star shone brightly from afar, 
But could not pierce the gloom. 

" Mocked, beaten, slain, their Lord had been, 
By cruel hands had died ; 
O'er Joseph's tomb they faithful vigil kept, 
Where slept the crucified. 

" But morning breaks, the earth gives up its dead, 
The rock is rolled away. 
Sing, sing, O earth ! thou sea, roar loud with joy, 
And greet the festal day ! 

" Go tell the news to all the earth around 
That Christ, your Lord, has risen; 
Tell all the Jews and Gentiles in your land 
That earth is joined to heaven." 



V. 



THE EVERLASTING DOORS. 

" Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lift up, ye ever- 
lasting doors ; and the King of glory shall come in." — Psalm 
xxiv. 7. 

IT is not my purpose to illustrate and to enforce the 
strict meaning of the words of the text, nor do I 
wish to bind its application to the past, nor do I in- 
tend to carry you, in imagination, to a Jewish syna- 
gogue, in order that you may listen to the glorious 
chanting of the twenty-fourth psalm, as one part of the 
choir take a stanza, with rich melody of voice giving 
utterance to its beauty, while another division of the 
singers follow on alternately with the other stanzas, 
until the whole building and all the hearers are 
charmed into delight, peace, and holiness. Nor do I 
intend to illustrate the occasion of the first use of the 
psalm, when the Temple was consecrated, and when 
the idea of the poet seems to be that the gates of the 
Temple were too low to admit the entrance of the ark, 
which was the symbolism of the King of kings. But 
I would ask all to bring the words down to their own 
day. I want to make them vital in personal experience ; 
and I desire that we should somehow let them speak 
out our wants, our cravings, and the greatest dreams of 



THE EVERLASTING DOORS 5 1 

our best life. Just as the Hebrews chanted the twenty- 
fourth psalm by responsive choirs, so let there be an 
answering chant, a beautiful response, and a holy cathe- 
dral in each of our bosoms, as we listen to the call of 
the Lord, and as we make ready for his coming ; for 
then will our whole being be flooded with a joyous 
light, a sacred sweetness, and a harmony that shall 
ring its echoes through all the corridors of heaven. 

It may be that some may disclaim any personal appli- 
cation of the text, on the ground that they never have 
had, and never can have, any celestial visitor for whom 
to prepare ; and they may say that their heart is too 
humble or too weak or too wicked for God ever to think 
of entering there, and they may suppose that the Infinite 
Being has too much to do with the general affairs of 
the heavens and of the earth ever to give His special 
attention to any single person. What, our souls the 
residence of the Supreme ! Heaven bathing us with 
such splendors, the King of glory asking us to receive 
Him as a guest ! Is it not a rash profanity for us so 
to think, so to dream, so to speak ? But, if we have 
carefully studied the New Testament, we shall find it 
rather too late for us to question this great truth ; for 
Christ has assured us that not a sparrow falls to the 
ground without the Father's notice; that all the hairs 
of our head are numbered ; that he and the Father will 
take up an abode in the devout heart ; and that, if we 
are pure, we shall all be one. Remember Saint Paul's 
pungent, sublime, holy definition of the Christian, as 
being the " temple of God." Remember, too, all the 
revelations, intimations, and prophecies, from Matthew 



52 SERMONS 

to the Apocalypse, of the indwelling spirit, and then 
see to what grandeur our own hearts are capable of 
reaching, what a royal residence we may possess in our 
own bosoms, and what a close affiliation, if we only so 
will it, God has ordained between us and Himself. 

If, then, God can come to us, will come to us, does 
come to us, how shall we make ready for His recep- 
tion, what quarters shall we give to Him ? What 
royal residence is at His service ? and what do we ex- 
pect and desire that He shall do for us after He has 
become our Guest ? There must be a preparation on 
our part for the coming of the Divine Being. We must 
lift up the "gates" of thought and the " everlasting 
doors " of the affections, and then the " King of glory 
will come in." We must have a mind and a soul all 
ready to greet Him, and very grateful for the conde- 
scension of His visit. 

Lift up the gates of thought. We must think about 
God ; for it is profitable for us to dwell upon His great- 
ness, wisdom, goodness. Let us often think of Him as 
He stood alone before creation was called into being. 
Ah ! was it not His love that would not let him be 
alone, but soon induced Him to call the world into 
existence, and also quickly led Him to give life to all 
the inhabitants of the earth ? Ought we not to con- 
sider how good the Creator was to place us in such 
favorable circumstances, and how kind to surround us 
with such peculiar advantages ? He might have made 
all about us dark, painful, and repulsive, instead of 
which He has girdled us with light, both by day and by 
night, through sun, moon, and stars. He has diversi- 



THE EVERLASTING DOORS 



53 



fied the surface of the globe with mountains and val- 
leys. He has garnished our gardens with flowers of 
exquisite beauty ; and, lest we should be tired of too 
much land, He has sprinkled the scenery with ocean, 
sea, bay, pond, rivulet, and brook. Ah ! time would fail 
us, the voice give out and strength would depart, were 
we to describe all the beauties, glories, and bounties 
that God has poured upon this our abiding place, in 
order that we may be made happy, holy, and grateful. 
We ought to think of these things ; and never a morn- 
ing should we open our eyes without a vision of the 
good God and without adoration of His gracious benig- 
nity ; and never a night should we go to sleep without 
a keen perception of the magnificence around us, and 
a loving conception of the Power that is always on the 
watch for our best good. And not only must we think 
about nature and about God's dealings with us, but we 
must think about religion itself. 

Let us lift up the gates of our thoughts upon the 
spiritual mysteries that invest our present and future 
destiny. Ay, let us ]ook upon God's nature and upon 
God's claims, upon Jesus and his worth, and upon the 
Holy Spirit, and how much it can offer and will offer and 
is constantly offering with authority to the seeking and 
the loving heart. We may ask ourselves thoughtfully, 
prayerfully, and with perfect propriety, the first great 
question that underlies, penetrates, and electrifies all 
other questions, — " Is there a God ? " And it is no 
mark of insanity, no sign of atheism, no proof of dis- 
trust, for any one to ask this great question ; but it is a 
sign of a desire to be conversant with first principles, 



54 



SERMONS 



the proof of a wish to start aright, and the mark of a 
hope to establish a good foundation. Fichte, the great 
German philosopher and scholar, — to whose opinions 
we should probably take, in very many respects, quite 
large exceptions, — has, in one respect, been unjustly 
blamed and wilfully charged with infidelity for saying 
to his pupils one day, as they were gathered together 
for theological study, " Let us to-day make God." His 
meaning was very different from what it would at first 
sight appear. All that he intended to say was, without 
doubt, simply this : Let us to-day sift the proofs for a 
God, hunt up the reasons why we need a Supreme 
Ruler, and thoroughly scan the facts that will inevi- 
tably lead us to the great First Cause ? Why not ? 
Why should not Fichte and all thinkers and believers 
and everybody be allowed to search into the very strata 
of religion, — to dig very deeply into the evidences, with 
great freedom, with large curiosity, and with a deep 
unction ? I never dread investigation ; and in this 
case I would most cordially, eloquently, earnestly in- 
vite it. The foundations are massive : let them be 
searched. They are immovable : dislodge them, if you 
are able ; for no one with a full balance of mind, heart, 
and soul, can, after a holy, patient, and thorough search, 
fail to come to the conclusion that there must be a 
God. All the more rich, hearty, and genuine will that 
faith become that is based on study, that has found out 
for itself its own needs, that has discovered the Helper, 
and that has not been afraid to lift up its reason in 
such an exalted work as finding God. 

After we have obtained our Maker, we are next to 



THE EVERLASTING DOORS 55 

get an idea of His character, nature, and attributes. I 
have a right to use my mind, and I am called upon to 
use it in thinking out what God ought to be. Do not 
call it the pride of human reason, do not call it human 
folly, do not call it a fruitless experiment, but look upon 
it as one of the grandest spectacles that angels witness 
when the child tries to understand the Father, and 
when the finite grasps after the Infinite. We may 
make mistakes in our search, and we shall make mis- 
takes ; but the Bible will gradually correct them, intui- 
tion will in time reveal them, and eternity will set all 
things aright. I take the same ground in regard to 
Christ and the Holy Spirit. My own views concerning 
these two powers in the Church almost border upon 
old church doctrine ; while the more I study the Bible, 
the deeper and the richer views do I get of their 
grandeur, power, and holiness. Yet here I would say 
to every one, Exercise the largest field of thought rev- 
erently, tremblingly, but freely. I do not dread — no, 
I invite — the closest examination of the nature of God 
and Christ ; for I am convinced that the farther we 
look into these spiritual realities, the more closely we 
lift upon them our purified reason, the more tender 
will become their claims, the more sacred their honors, 
the more august their authority, and the more sublime 
their influence. Of course there are mysteries about 
religion which the most able minds can never sift ; 
there are mighty truths encircling it which only a Deity 
can solve ; and there are splendors arching it that the 
eyes of angels can but half appreciate. But yet a great 
part of religious truth is subjected to our inspection, 



56 SERMONS 

craves our closest scrutiny, and ever grows more and 
more potent in its claims ; and the more and more sub- 
lime in its attractions, the more we accept the chal- 
lenge, and walk fearlessly into its inner chambers, 
sounding, so far as we are able, its wonderful, gracious, 
and startling depths. Many persons are willing to 
think about everything else except religion ; but here 
a magic wand seems to paralyze their brain, while an 
awful stupor benumbs all their thinking. They are 
bright enough in their business affairs, and they show 
there commanding minds. They are sparkling enough 
in their homes, for they deem it proper there to exer- 
cise a full imagination, a ripe judgment, and a positive 
authority; but the moment they step into the cathe- 
dral or within the range of cathedral requisitions, then 
they become marble : they are different persons, they 
wait for somebody else to move them, and they stand 
just where they are placed. 

We have several reasons offered to us for this per- 
sonal lethargy. It is said that religion is too sacred to 
be defined, and that it must simply be received ; and it 
is averred that a business man has no time to attend to 
spiritual matters, and that it is his duty to leave such 
concerns to his minister, and that he must take Script- 
ural truth at second hand from his spiritual teacher. 
It is maintained, too, that we can never get full satisfac- 
tion on Divine concerns, and that it is hardly worth 
while to begin a study that can never be completed. 

To such, let us reply that the mind never was given 
to us that we might wrap it in a napkin, and that it is 
a poor compliment to the Framer and the Donor of so 



THE EVERLASTING DOORS 



57 



rich a gift for us to deny its freedom as soon as it is 
received. If religion and religious appeals be too sacred 
to be understood, why, then, evidently we have no con- 
cern with them whatsoever, and they must be meant 
for an order of beings very different from man ; and, if 
the minister is to do our praying and our thinking, 
why, he can with just as much propriety do our eating 
and our sleeping. 

Again, we never get full satisfaction in anything that 
we undertake ; and shall we, therefore, refuse to do 
anything, and are we to sit still and to play the drone, 
because, forsooth, we cannot grasp all the meaning of 
every event that greets us ? You yourself are a mys- 
tery; and shall you therefore deny all acquaintance 
with yourself ? Your friends around you are envel- 
oped in clouds : shall you on this account give up your 
friends? Life itself is intersected with webs, entangle- 
ments, and labyrinths ; and shall we all of us, then, at 
once put ourselves out of existence ? Let us carry the 
same common sense into our religion that we carry 
every day into our business life, and then we shall be 
safe. There is no reason that can be found upon the 
earth or in heaven why we should not " lift up " the 
gates of our mind for the incoming of all God's spir- 
itual truths. 

But I come now to something better, and to some- 
thing of which I love to speak, in private and in public, 
and everywhere and at all times. We must lift up the 
everlasting doors of our hearts, that the King of glory 
may come in. God craves most of all, first of all, and 
as comprehending all, a lodgement in our hearts. It 



58 SERMONS 

is not enough that we strive to compass Him with 
our thoughts; but we must also engirdle Him by our 
emotions, surround Him by our intuitions, and endear 
ourselves to Him by our affections. We may have 
a very clear conception of God, may really know a 
great deal about Him, and yet we may be very weak 
spiritually ; for our greatest theologians are not of 
necessity our best Christians, and, in fact, some of 
our mightiest believers are found among the unlettered 
and the unfortunate. Some persons who have no 
power of consecutive thought, who have never had 
their reason trained, and who by the force of cir- 
cumstances have been kept low in life, being compelled 
to devote all their spare hours to hard labor, can 
yet, notwithstanding these mental disadvantages, feel 
deeply, richly, and gloriously God's love, and can love 
God, too, with all their heart, soul, and strength. We 
must give our hearts to God ; and this must be a free- 
will offering, as free as the song of a bird, with sweet, 
entrancing, and uplifting melody, suffusing not only the 
countenance but the life with glory, and throwing a 
sacred lustre upon every thought that we cherish, bur- 
nishing with celestial brightness every word that we 
speak, cleansing, consecrating, and uplifting every deed 
that we perform. Yes, our hearts must lean on God's 
great heart, resting there gently, confidingly, peace- 
fully, and gloriously ; and then on the countenance 
there will be no tear, and on the soul there will fall no 
dread. " It is said that a silver egg was once given 
to a Saxon queen. When she opened the silver by a 
secret spring, there was found a yolk of gold ; and when 



THE EVERLASTING DOORS 59 

she touched a spring in the yolk, there was discovered 
a beautiful bird; and when she pressed the wings of 
the bird, on its breast was revealed a crown, jewelled 
and radiant. And even within the crown, upheld by a 
spring like the rest, was a ring of diamonds, which 
fitted the finger of the princess herself." So, if we are 
true Christians, we shall have given to us faith, and 
within our faith will be found devotion, and in the cen- 
tre of devotion, the spiritual birds of the soul, singing 
unto God, and encircling the wings of these messen- 
gers of peace and light, there will be the crown of 
righteousness, and at last will be found, inside of the 
crown, the spiritual ring of diamond brightness, that 
will complete our adornment for heaven. " Lift up 
your heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lift up, ye everlast- 
ing doors ; and the King of glory shall come in." We 
certainly cannot complain of the guest who desires to 
share our hospitality. We cannot question the motives 
that lead to his visit. We know that He comes with 
royal gifts for our blessed acceptance. We are aware 
that we shall be very much better off for His company, 
and we must be sure that in His presence we shall be 
greater, stronger, and holier every way. 

We know all these things, we have not the shadow 
of a doubt about them. Why, then, do we delay ? 
Why do we not let the King of glory enter into the 
soul ? 

O King of glory, come into the sacred cathedral of 
the soul, open the gates, throw back the doors, and 
take full possession of all our inward life. Let us be 
jubilant in Thy presence, kindle up our minds to dia- 



6o SERMONS 

mond brightness, fill our hearts with a sure devotion, 
and flood our whole lives with a perfect glory. 

Christian friends, one has said, and let us each in our 
souls repeat his touching words : — 

" Lord, I hear of showers of blessing 
Thou art scattering full and free, — 
Showers the thirsty land refreshing : 
Let some droppings fall on me. 

" Pass me not, O tender Saviour, 
Let me love and cling to thee ; 
I am longing for thy favor, — 

While thou'rt calling, oh, call me. 

" Pass me not ! Thy lost one bringing, 
Bind my heart, O Lord, to thee ; 
While the streams of life are springing, 
Blessing others, oh, bless me — even me" 



VI. 

RESTLESS DESIRE. 

"Be still." — Psalm xlvi. 10. 

OCCASIONALLY in our lives, and with some of 
us a great many times, I think we feel like 
arising from where we stand, and like going forward to 
what we think will be a better place ; and we are not 
still, thoughtful, and uncomplaining. That is, a rest- 
less desire is a part of the make-up of average human 
nature, and attends us, more or less, during all our 
earthly pilgrimage; for we all of us wish for a change 
in our place of living, or in our occupation, or in our 
friends, or in our health, or in our education, or in 
our religion, or in the current of circumstances that 
besets us. And we think that, if we only could have 
been something different from what we are, then we 
should have attained just what we now desire; that 
is, if we could have the privilege of marching to the 
place, or the occupation, or the advantages created by 
our imagination, we would fly right into the possession 
of a solid, splendid, and permanent success. But our 
wings are clipped, or else they were never given to us, 
or else we do not know how to use them ; and so we 
are obliged to stay just where we are. 



62 SERMONS 

Let us look at this matter a little closely. Our place 
of living distresses us ; and we think that, if we could 
have been born almost anywhere else, our chances 
would have been better. But this climate, or this age, 
or this restricted position that greeted us when we first 
opened our eyes, and all these preordained realities, 
have worked against us ever since our birth, so that 
we have been in the treadmill always, and shall prob- 
ably continue so till we die. My friends, those are 
very faint at the heart who think so, or talk so, or allow 
anybody else to say so ; and I am out of all patience 
with such wicked excuses, that are offered as the apol- 
ogy for milk-and-water lives, for we all know that solid 
success is made, not inherited. Hardship is its mother, 
Toil is its father, and Rough Usage is its best friend. 
I admit that the massive English writer has said, " Some 
are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have 
greatness thrust upon them " ; yet he would admit that 
true, solid, and lasting greatness must be earned, and 
not taken as a gift. The cottage and the hut have 
more frequently produced the best men, the noblest 
women, and the most stalwart children than the palace 
with all its magnificence ; and pinched poverty has 
been the early benediction of many a person whose 
name now rings around the world in tones of glory that 
shall never die out. Yet we sigh, because we wish to 
begin life over again, under new conditions ; but let us 
be assured that, if we had ten thousand chances for 
making a fresh start, and all according to our own plan, 
as we at the time thought best, we should probably fail 
every time, unless we found out before the experiment 



RESTLESS DESIRE 63 

was over that the victory rested more in our own will, 
consecrated by Almighty God, than in any outward 
conditions whatsoever. 

Again, some say that they have chosen the wrong 
occupation, and that, if they could only go away to the 
true place, their course would be altogether more brill- 
iant, pleasing, and profitable. I am hardly prepared 
to deny the assertion altogether, and in very many 
cases the statement may be thoroughly true ; while, for 
no fault of our own, we may be placed just where we 
are, with but little hope of relief. And yet I am very 
apt to think that the majority of those who are not con- 
tented where they are will hardly accomplish much 
anywhere else, because rooted habits are hard to be dis- 
lodged, and people never know where to find the man 
who is to-day here and to-morrow elsewhere ; and the 
hands that are trained in one way, unless they are pre- 
eminently skilful, will not work easily in other lines of 
labor, and a discouraged heart, even in pleasant fields, 
will have parted with its vigor, inspiration, and glory. 

So that 

" Act well your part, there all the honor lies," 

seems to apply to the spot just where we are, to the 
work just at hand, and to the duties that God has given 
to us. 

How often one says, "If I had only been this or 
that ! " But let us show what we can do where we are, 
and not boast of what we are able to do where we are 
not, and where most likely we never shall be ; for we 
can never do our best anywhere unless we have cour- 
age, hope, and indomitable will, and a right royal heart. 



64 SERMONS 

What we might have done somewhere else is not the 
question before this grand amphitheatre of life, but 
what we are doing now, and with what conscience, 
love, resignation, and hope. Let us not attempt to go 
away from the present place of duty, unless God, be- 
yond the quiver of a doubt, sends the command that 
will carry us just where we want to go, and we are 
sure that the order is from above, and not the wretched 
suggestion of an inflated self -appreciation ; and let us 
make the best of our circumstances and become supe- 
rior to all obstacles with a real brave, sunny, and tri- 
umphant heart. 

Some of us complain that, if we had more friends or 
different kinds of friends, we should succeed better in 
life ; and we want to go away to some spot where such 
helpers can be found in a large, gracious, and beauti- 
ful abundance. But our best friend is our own right 
arm, that is consecrated, of course, by the grace of 
God ; and the best plan for us, too, is to make our own 
way, and then we shall have all the friends that we 
want, and our very independence will give us comfort, 
peace, and joy. 

As a general rule in life, the true men and the noble 
women become so by opposition, so that enemies have 
oftentimes unconsciously furnished the rounds in the 
ladder by which many have risen to honor, peace, and 
glory, and thus have thorns been changed to crowns. 
The oak would never be half the tree it is, save for 
the adverse winds, terrible storms, and daily opposition 
that make its roots deeper on the side where their 
unfriendly visits are most frequently made. Several 



RESTLESS DESIRE 65 

writers have spoken of the value of having enemies. 
Allow me to quote a few of them, for I think we often 
get considerably strengthened by making a mosaic of 
other people's thoughts. Cato exclaims, " Some men 
are more beholden to their bitterest enemies than to 
friends who appear to be sweetness itself." So Addi- 
son tells us that " Plutarch has written an essay on the 
benefits which a man may receive from his enemies, 
and among the good fruits of enmity mentions this in 
particular : that, by the reproaches which it casts upon 
us, we see the worst side of ourselves." And the 
Abbe de Rannci says, "Did a person but know the 
value of an enemy, he would purchase him with pure 
gold." John Neal quite eloquently writes : "A certain 
amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites 
rise against and not with the wind. Even a head wind 
is better than none. No man ever worked his passage 
anywhere in a dead calm." Burke : " Our antagonist is 
our helper." And Moliere tells us, "The more power- 
ful the obstacle, the more glory we have in overcoming 
it ; and the difficulties with which we are met are the 
maids of honor which set off virtue." Yes, it is a 
universal experience that the best heroes and the no- 
blest heroines are made, not by being pushed ahead, 
but by being pushed back ; not on the bed of roses, 
but on the bed of thorns ; not when wreathed by sun- 
beams, but when enveloped by clouds ; and he or she 
who sighs for more propitious circumstances will find 
that nobody reaps a harvest of glory in this world or 
in the next world by a wrench or jump or leap, but 
only from hard labor, heavy pangs, terrible agony, and 



66 SERMONS 

great tribulation. So, too, some say that they could 
do better if they had stronger health ; and this is the 
saddest plea that is ever given for lack of work, growth, 
and real, solid, and quickening joy. Yet even here I 
think I have a ground of complaint that the excuse is 
insufficient, that manifest duties are overlooked, and 
that noble encouragements are ignored ; for every one 
can do all that is required, and to those unto whom 
but little is given not much is demanded, and all are 
always victorious who do what they can, and do it in 
the best way possible, and do it with a hearty good 
will. Does any one tell me that life is a failure because 
such a one is feeble, sick, and in constant pain ? I 
say, No, unless the will is weak, the heart is palsied, 
and faith is crippled. Let us do what we can, and that 
is all that we are asked to do ; and God never meant 
that we should measure our responsibility by duties 
beyond our reach, for He asks of all of us only what is 
possible, what we can easily do, what we ought to do. 

We certainly can be patient, devout, loving, pure, and 
holy ; and thus we shall set a good example that will 
be a contagion in the neighborhood, fill the world with 
saints, and wreathe the faces of all the angels with the 
holiest of smiles. I visited once a little girl, doomed 
to occupy her bed for life, tortured all the time, and 
yet so sweet, gentle, happy, and so perfectly radiant in 
faith, courage, good nature, purity, and devotion that it 
seemed as if an angel had just come down from God's 
city, and had taken such dilapidated garments, that we 
poor mortals might be taught how to make agony sub- 
lime, disease a benediction, and approaching death an 
apocalypse of glory, beauty, and honor. 



RESTLESS DESIRE 67 

And so, too, have we not all seen sick-chambers, 
where pain, anguish, weariness, and certain death only 
made the sufferer more grand and beautiful, holy and 
sublime ? Again, some throw the blame of what they 
call their troubles upon their education. They think, 
if they had only been trained differently, they could 
have accomplished a great deal more ; and they would 
fain now march away to a larger development, better 
teachers, and deeper mental power. Well, of course, 
education has a great deal to do with growth, success, 
and happiness ; and a false education will prove a hin- 
drance to each and to all of us all through our lives, 
making progress an up-hill work continually. But, 
friends, the true triumph is when we make the best of 
what knowledge we possess, and do not groan forever 
over lost opportunities. As the old couplet has it, — 

" What you can help, cure : 
What you cannot help, endure." 

Let us leap the chasm, if we can, but not stop, grum- 
ble, and moan at the brink ; and, if the jump is not in 
us, we are not to blame for staying where we are. But, 
if it be in us, the good, earnest, loving, and mighty 
spring is better than ten thousand apologies or a mill- 
ion regrets or a torrent of tears. The very time that 
we occupy with our complaints could far better be 
filled with labor well performed, duty honorably met, 
and sufferings bravely borne. Let us do as Longfellow 

says : — 

" Let us, then, be up and doing, 
With a heart for any fate ; 
Still achieving, still pursuing, 
Learn to labor and to wait." 



68 SERMONS 

So, too, we complain of our religion, or of the cur- 
rent of circumstances that besets us, or of anything and 
everything that we suppose has been, or is, or will be 
in our way ; and we want to go somewhere where we 
can get out of difficulty, grow more rapidly, and have 
peace, honor, and satisfaction. 

But, my friends, those who are not satisfied where 
they are, cannot do their duty just there, grow there, 
and carry a happy face there, will be miserable any- 
where and everywhere else ; and every change in posi- 
tion, or in circumstances, or in desire, will only add 
to the burden that they daily carry in the heart. We 
are all of us altogether too restless. Striving as we 
do continually for something else, we lose the beauty, 
advantage, and the glory of what we have ; and thus 
often in a garden of roses we see no grandeur, perceive 
no fragrance, and simply complain of the thorns. Oth- 
ers are envying us our advantages all the time, while 
we at the same moment are totally unconscious of the 
vast beneficence that surrounds, engirdles, hallows, and 
glorifies our steps. 

Of course, all growth depends upon our reaching 
forward, our hoping for more, our grasping better 
things ; but cannot we sometimes stand still, be still, 
keep still, enjoy what we have, and thank God, from 
the depths of our hearts, for his unceasing bounties ? 
The Psalmist once said, you remember, " Oh that I had 
wings like a dove ! for then would I fly away, and be at 
rest." I suppose the writer meant fly away to the 
grave or fly up to heaven, and throw aside the burden 
of this life altogether; and we all of us feel just like 



RESTLESS DESIRE 69 

that sometimes. But, supposing the wings were given 
to us, should we dare to fly, and should we be sure that, 
if we went away from an unaccomplished duty, we 
should find a perfect rest as a reward for our cowardice, 
laziness, and despair ? 

We are to stand at our post of duty, we are to be still, 
and we are to keep still, my friends, till relieved ; and 
he or she who runs away from duty must be branded 
as a traitor at once. Fly away ? No ! Let us stay 
where we are. No matter how hard the job, nor how 
painful the discipline, nor how discouraging the outlook, 
let us stay just where we are till the honorable dis- 
charge from service is issued by Almighty God. So 
did he, the Master of us all, whose life was so blessed, 
whose presence is such a benediction, and whose wel- 
come, I hope, at last we shall each and all receive. 

Glory be to His holy name ! If we had the wings of 
a dove, we say with the Psalmist, we would fly away, 
and be at rest. But is an eternal rest the great coro- 
nation of all success, here and hereafter ? and do we 
want to reach any place, or stand anywhere, or be 
ordered anywhere, where the reward of doing nothing 
shall be placed in our hands ? If so, we are longing for 
a curse, and we are reaching out after destruction ; for 
the moment that we make rest eternal we write death 
upon the soul, and then will all growth be ended, all 
desire be clipped, and all duty ignored. Shall we stand 
still, fold our hands, go to sleep, and dream forever ? 
O God, save us from such a fearful doom as that. A 
temporary rest is well : slight pauses now and then 
afford refreshment and cheer ; but he or she who ex- 



70 SERMONS 

pects to rest on the oars forever might as well be 
changed "to a rock at once. "Be still." This is not 
standing still forever, resting on our oars complacently, 
lifting not a hand to work nor an eye to duty ; but 
the order means, Stop complaining, stop doubting, keep 
still from false charges against Almighty God, and do 
the best you can with the opportunities at hand. 

God gives to us all, and all the time, the wings of a 
dove ; that is, He gives to us the wings of motion, and 
He expects us to use our wings with a sober discretion, 
with a patient gratitude, with a freedom from all com- 
plaints whatsoever. If God gives us the wings of a 
dove, my friends, we will fly nearly all the time, quietly, 
in stillness, cleaving the air gently, and pausing only 
on the branches of reflection or in the groves of prayer, 
or by the purling brooks of a deep, holy, and blessed 
consecration, that we may quench a transient thirst ; 
but our course shall be onward and upward, our plu- 
mage white and beautiful, our motion easy and swift, 
and all things about us full of innocence, purity, humil- 
ity, and peace. " Be still." Well, on this Whit-Sunday, 
white with the blossoms, white of old by the garments 
of those who presented themselves for baptism, and 
white (or, in other words, clear, bright, beautiful, and 
holy) because on this day the " Holy Ghost " descended 
with mighty power, — on this Whit-Sunday, so glorious 
in its history, so precious in its memories, so cheering 
in its promises, so holy in its benediction, let us be 
still, and hear the tongues so various, receive the glo- 
ries so great, and gain our real anointing for all life's 
work, all life's discipline, and all life's issues. So may 
it be, Almighty God ! 



VII. 

THE GIFTS OF THE PAST. 

"Other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors." — 
St. John iv. 38. 

IT is sometimes a great disappointment to us, a 
startling mystery, one of the unaccountable deal- 
ings of God with this world, that so many persons 
labor, and labor earnestly, affectionately, and faithfully, 
but fail to get the reward that they deserve. Another 
set of men or women enter into their labors ; that is, 
take the results, get the reward, carry off the honors, 
enjoy comforts never earned, and receive all the bless- 
ings without any of the hard work, so that one set of 
people are sowing all the time, and quite another set are 
perhaps thanklessly enjoying the harvest, which truth 
brings up the whole question of our perpetual obliga- 
tions, and enforces the conviction that we are living on 
borrowed capital all the time. Of course, first, we owe 
everything that we have to the grace of God, that never 
fails ; and, secondly, we have a whole past behind us, to 
which we are greatly indebted. And to all the people 
who, under God, have built up our institutions, we 
should give our perpetual thanksgivings. 

First, let us thank God for existence, food, opportu- 
nities, and His constantly giving hand. 



72 SERMONS 

I am aware that very many people, at times, doubt 
whether they ought to thank God for birth. "To be 
or not to be, that is the question"; and, considering 
the exposures, hostilities, temptations, dangers, difficul- 
ties, and all the mystery, pain, and brevity of life, would 
it not have been better that we never had been sent 
here ? This is a very serious question with some peo- 
ple, — nay, with all of us, at certain crises in our experi- 
ence, when we do not know which way to go, and when 
we do know that, whatever way we go, agony will be the 
result. Then we doubt, after all, whether life is worth 
living. 

Yet I cannot help feeling that we must thank God 
that He created us. Of course, a great many persons 
come into the world paupers, and go out of the world 
in the same condition ; and between the coming and 
the going the experience is hard, the discipline sharp, 
the tears many, the pain great. Yet even then I can- 
not help thinking that life is a boon, — a boon disguised, 
it may be, a mercy veiled, a gift under a cloud, yet an 
opportunity that some day will be proved a benedic- 
tion ; for not all that seemingly have lost the prizes 
have really lost the crown, and sometimes the very 
price for the crown has been the suffering that led to 
it. Many of our great writers seem to convey this idea. 
Listen to their beautiful words. 

Binney says, " The shattered spirit can only reflect 
external beauty " ; Richter, " Our sorrows are like thun- 
der-clouds, which seem black in the distance, but grow 
lighter as they approach " ; the English poet, " Sor- 
row is knowledge"; and Tupper, "There is joy in 



THE GIFTS OF THE PAST 



73 



sorrow, which none but a mourner can know " ; and 
Cowper, — 

" The path of sorrow, and that path alone, 
Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown." 

And Jesus tells us, " Blessed are they that mourn, for 
they shall be comforted." But how many reasons the 
prosperous have ; for which they should thank God, — for 
life here upon the earth, the God that bestows health, 
food, opportunities, and everything ! And yet how often 
the most favored are the least thankful ! How filled 
they very frequently are with pride, self-assertion, self- 
ishness, cruelty, and all things bad, so that, when we 
see a really prosperous man, who is all the time deeply 
grateful, nobly generous, and truly religious, who looks 
upon his opportunities as a trust, and upon his good 
fortune as something in which he wishes all men to 
have a share, — when such a wonderful specimen of 
humanity is witnessed, how all are cheered, comforted, 
strengthened, and what a refreshment comes upon the 
earth, so that even those least like the pattern can- 
not help being glad to see a type of human nature so 
vastly different from the general copy ! And, although 
such may cry out that such a person is odd, an enthusi- 
ast, and wild, yet way down in their hearts they have 
a jubilee for the glorious manifestation ; and perhaps 
involuntarily they are saying, O God, at some future 
day, make us like that good man. 

Again, my friends, for all that we enjoy, after thank- 
ing God, we must thank the great past behind us ; or 
rather the thousands of individuals who compose that 



74 SERMONS 

past, and into whose labors we have entered. And 
here the scholars, the philosophers, the builders, rise 
up; and we must call them blessed, not because they 
did everything, but because they did so much, and 
because they have sent their precious legacies down to 
this hour for our special benefit, our holy uplifting, 
and our constant peace. Where should we be but for 
these labors of the past? "We cannot," said Emer- 
son, " overestimate our debt to the past." And Tenny- 
son speaks of "the eternal landscape of the past." 
And Adelaide Procter, — 

" Oh, there are voices of the past, 
Links of a broken chain, 
Wings that can bear me back to times 
Which cannot come again ; 
Yet God forbid that I should lose 
The echoes that remain." 

And Henry Ward Beecher, in one of his peculiar 
strains of eloquence, cries out : "There have been many 
men who left behind them that which hundreds of 
years have not worn out. The earth has Socrates and 
Plato to this day. The world is richer yet by Moses 
and the old prophets than by the wisest statesmen. 
We are indebted to the past. We stand in the great- 
ness of ages that are gone rather than in that of our 
own." 

Yes, my friends, we have entered into the labors of 
other people. We are gathering up the harvest that 
comes from seeds that are sown by other hands. We 
are taking rewards for that which we have not earned. 



THE GIFTS OF THE PAST 



75 



The honors are ours, but the suffering fell upon other 
hearts. We see it in literature, buildings, religion, and 
everything. 

What easy lessons to-day for boys and girls, because 
strong men and women ages ago lost their eyesight 
and their health, and perhaps their life, in finding out 
truths that are the A, B, C's of the present hour, so 
that a child of twelve to-day, with his present knowl- 
edge, if carried back five hundred years, would be one 
of the sages of the past ; but that very present knowl- 
edge which the child would carry back would be the 
legacy of the greatest minds and hardest workers of 
many centuries, so that that child has taken the apple 
from the tree that sprang up from the seeds that his 
ancestors planted ! 

Then look at the buildings to-day all over the world, 
all the builders of which have passed on to God, where 
the names of many of the workmen are forgotten, and 
see how the glory remains, while the givers of the 
bounty on the mortal side have perished. We enter 
St. Peter's at Rome, or Westminster Abbey, or the 
Cathedral at Cologne, or the mosque of St. Sophia at 
Constantinople, and not a soul can tell us, perhaps, 
who laid the first corner-stone or who dug the founda- 
tion, or the first man that conceived the thought of the 
grand structures ; but we enjoy the beauty, neverthe- 
less, admire the splendor, wonder at the genius, and 
gather the fruits, without caring, it may be, who were 
the original benefactors that have by anticipation 
lavished upon us so profusely these great privileges. 
That is, we enter into the labors of those who have 



76 SERMONS 

toiled for our sakes, without paying any price to them, 
the real owners, for the great bounty. 

So, too, we are oftentimes heedless as to the pro- 
gressive history of religious thought. Dr. Clarke has 
written about the ten great religions to which we are 
indebted for a great deal of our spiritual growth ; and 
I verily believe that it was the one great religion of 
our Lord and master, so firmly seated in Dr. Clarke's 
heart, that opened his eyes to, and stirred his soul 
toward, and glorified his lips to speak about, and forced 
his hands to take his pen and write about the pearls 
and the diamonds scattered all the way along from the 
days of creation in a religious line, that were finally 
consecrated by the baptism of the great Teacher of us 
all, who tells his disciples in all their studies and les- 
sons to gather up treasures both new and old, and 
who, even in the Lord's prayer that he gave to us, put 
together with a divine wisdom rich sayings that by 
the grace of God had leaped from souls that were, for 
the time at least, in strict alliance with holiness. 

u Other men labored, and ye have entered into their 
labors." I have sometimes thought what would those 
other men who have labored so hard, toiled night and 
day, giving their strength, ambition, and enthusiasm 
to the carrying out of a grand idea, have thought or 
said or dreamed, could they have known that strangers 
would enjoy the fruit of their efforts, and that they 
were securing victory for somebody else, heaping up 
treasures and knowing not who would gather them. 

In Boston, about thirty-two years ago, a man built 
a house, built it by the day, superintended the job 



THE GIFTS OF THE PAST 77 

himself, spared neither time nor money that he might, 
in the end, secure for himself for life a comfortable 
dwelling ; and, about the same time, a young man was 
settled in a neighboring city, and took for his dwell- 
ing a cottage house, humbly built of wood, and suffi- 
cient for the shelter of himself and the one to whom 
he had given his name. And neither of the two men 
to whom I refer were acquainted with each other. 
And yet that first man, with all his plans for a life 
estate, and with his lavish expenditure for trifles, was 
really building a home for the younger man, who in 
after years entered into the labors of the careful but 
prodigal builder, and became the owner of that which 
was built, not as it seems for a life estate, but for an 
unknown successor ; and thus lives touched that no 
one would have dreamed had any possible point of 
contact. 

So it is always, everywhere, in all time : we are all 
the time entering into, enjoying, and becoming bene- 
fited in every possible way by the labors of others ; and 
we are all the time working for unknown parties, who 
will enter into our labors and so on forever. And it is 
well, however we may feel about it. At first thought, 
of course, the builders are disappointed. Why not, they 
may say, let us have the only enjoyment of that which 
we create ? and, when we can enjoy the gift no more, 
let it perish, and do not let another hand take that 
which is ours. But, on deeper thought, they and we 
and all will see that such a selfish outlook would 
destroy the world. It is only a world because one 
generation builds for another generation ; and every 



78 SERMONS 

generation is telegraphing all the time to the future. 
I think that there is a real glory, a true joy, and a holy 
inspiration about labor, because it must be from the 
very nature of the case, by the ordinance of Almighty 
God, really unselfish. The maker of bricks, perhaps, 
at the time, only thinks of the gain that the sale of 
them will bring to his credit, not of the buildings that 
they will make and of the thousands of people they 
will shelter and of the years those bricks will be seen 
by the eyes of men, long after the hand that created 
them has vanished from sight. 

So look at any great building, and how many people 
you have to thank for its beauty ! — the architect who 
planned it, the mason, the carpenter, the painter, the 
day laborer, the plumber, the glazier, the locksmith, 
and the man who earned the money by which he was 
enabled to put all these varied laborers into activity ; 
and all these people that I have mentioned are perpet- 
ually sending telegrams and gifts into an unknown 
future that their mortal eyes will never behold. Call 
up all those who had a hand in the building of the 
Pyramids in Egypt, and Boston Common would not 
hold the thousands and tens of thousands and hundreds 
of thousands who would rise up and claim an owner- 
ship in the great work, by gifts or by labor or by some 
kind of authority delegated for the purpose. 

This is the law of Christ's life, that he lived for us 
and for all. Nineteen centuries look back to Bethle- 
hem and Nazareth and Jerusalem, and bow reverently 
in gratitude for the gracious help that has always 
reached the heart of man from one who made those 



THE GIFTS OF THE PAST 79 

places sacred, and who, by his passing away to God, 
has made all parts of the earth full of a possible 
glory. 

It is the law, too, of all lives, that they are lived for 
others ; and every life is a receiving from the past and 
a donation to the future. Every church in the land is 
a mausoleum of the past, erected into glory by the 
faithful prayers, the earnest labors, the holy lives, the 
benignant pastorship of those faithful and loving dis- 
ciples of Jesus who have stood in the pulpit, and have 
declared the will of God unto those who have gathered 
for worship during many years in the past ; but it is 
also a perpetual fountain of power to coming genera- 
tions, and to all who shall stand from time to time in 
the sacred place as ambassadors from heaven, so that, 
as they enter into the labors of those who have gone 
before, the very quickening spirit of the past shall 
make the future even more blessed, comforting, and 
grand. 

This Sabbath-day, too, that we each week consecrate, 
is a legacy from the past ; and the labors of other men 
have brought about the sacredness of Sabbath worship, 
and rendered it beautiful, inspiring, and fragrant, so 
that, as we meet once in seven days to thank God for 
His manifold blessings, let us not forget to thank Him 
for the Pilgrims and the Puritans and all their suc- 
cessors in the Church, who, believing in God and 
Christ and religion and literature and all things good, 
reared the Church, started the school, and raised up 
benevolent institutions, that all the people might bow 
before the Infinite One in reverence, love, and holy 



80 SERMONS 

gratitude, so that we to-day enter into their labors 
through the advance that they have caused in civiliza- 
tion and holiness. Yes, let us thank God for the past 
as well as for the present ; and let us humbly beseech 
Him to make the future a glorious apocalypse, of which 
neither God, nor Christ, nor angels, nor man need ever 
be ashamed. 



VIII. 

EVERYTHING UNCERTAIN. 

" Boast not thyself of to-morrow ; for thou knowest not what 
a day may bring forth." — Prov. xxvii. I. 

TIME is never truly valued until it verges upon 
eternity. We seem to have plenty of it until it 
is about to be taken away ; and we recklessly squander 
what we would, at the hour of death, give worlds to 
regain. Nay, we sometimes speak of to-morrow with 
a confidence, boastfulness, and authority, as if it were 
already in our grasp, and as if our mere summons 
could create its birth ; and this is very strange, when 
every day we witness the foolishness of such a settled 
trust. Ah ! we know that we have not the command 
of even a minute in advance. We know that the next 
second all that is ours, save the soul, may be dashed 
to atoms. We see all around us hints of a coming 
eclipse ; and yet we go on dreaming, calculating, proph- 
esying, and promising as if we, above all others, had 
such a mortgage upon the future that it could not by 
any possibility slip out of our hands. 

Let us wake up from this sad sense of security, put 
our house in order that no surprise can cause our 
defeat, and be armed, fortified, and prepared against 



82 SERMONS 

any sudden danger by having our souls ready for any- 
thing and for everything as God shall ordain. 

The old Puritan believers — stanch, good men they 
were — had a charming way of testifying to their sense 
of the instability of all things, since they always had 
a solemn prefix to all their pledges, and they used to 
say, " God willing," we will do this or that, and then 
they gladly, contentedly, and hopefully left issues to 
providential appointment, keeping engagements, if able, 
or as readily breaking them, if a divine will interposed ; 
and hence they continually presented a calm manner 
amid all the changes of their earthly discipline. I wish 
that more of this illuminating faith had descended to 
their posterity ; for, surely, no better legacy could they 
have given to a wavering world than this simple and 
yet grand example of a sturdy reliance upon God's 
blessed will. 

We all of us trust too much to to-morrow, and we 
think too little of to-day ; that is, we treat lightly what 
is ours, while we strive to grasp that which is not ours. 
How dare we presume upon any time but the present 
hour, or upon any opportunity but that now offered ? 
And is there not enough before us, if rightly used, to 
make us good, great, and glorious ? And will not idle 
dreaming, guessing, and forecasting make us cowards, 
slaves, and drones ? All our heroes and our heroines 
have become distinguished by taking hold of what was 
directly before them, and by making the best of that ; 
and thus, gradually, but surely, have they ascended to 
glory, power, and immmortality. Why not ? For the 
present is evidently all that we can well manage, full 



EVERYTHING UNCERTAIN 83 

enough to tax our utmost powers, and is forced upon 
our immediate notice. Let us build up ourselves, just 
as we build up our houses, — first the foundation, then 
the corner-stone, then story by story ; and, no matter 
if the building never be finished, let it be well done 
as far as it goes. We have no responsibility about the 
completion, but we are responsible for every step that 
is taken toward the final coronation. We must answer 
for the digging, let it be deep, sure, strong; for the 
stones, let them be solid ; for the timber, let it be 
sound ; for the mortar, let it be well made ; and for the 
whole work, as far as it goes, let it be in proportion, 
ornamental, useful, and worthy of respect. We must 
do the opening work to-day, although to-morrow our 
frame should turn to marble, while other hands take 
up what we have left undone. 

Again, I maintain that life becomes more easy as we 
count it by the days and hours, and not by the months 
and years ; and the cares of life are not so heavy when 
we take them one by one and manage them as they 
are sent. For duty thus met seems not half so 
heavy, pains thus greeted are not half so severe, and 
tears thus received are not half so scalding. 

The management of life is something like the ascent 
of Mount Washington. If, when we start to climb, we 
keep thinking of the great distance that must be con- 
quered ere we reach the summit, we shall very soon 
get weary, dispirited, and sad ; but, if, wisely, we think 
nothing about the distance, but take each step as if it 
were the last step, and all the time beautifully conse- 
crate our eyesight and insight, fatigue will take its 



84 SERMONS 

flight, and nimbly, enthusiastically, and joyously we 
shall mount upward. Well, just so in our life; for 
there we must not care too much about the end, but 
we must care about the now, and the now must be 
inspired, glorified, made holy, pure, sweet, and sacred 
forever and ever. We must improve ourselves by the 
air, scenery, and travelling now ; and then, when the 
summit is reached, all will be bright, peaceful, and 
grand. Let us care not where the roseate beams of 
to-morrow's dawning sun may find us, but let us be 
resolved every day that we live, in storm or sunshine, 
that we will be full of spiritual fidelity and overflowing 
with gracious, gentle, and holy thoughts. The visit of 
our dear Master to this world was mainly for the pur- 
pose of proving to us how everything here is transitory, 
unstable, fleeting, and fading away ; and yet, in taking 
away our material support, he did not leave us trem- 
bling in agony and floating on nothing. Oh, no ! for 
he pointed to the unchanging God, taught us about 
himself as the Rock of Ages, lifted his eyes toward 
heaven as the sure and immovable home, referred to 
the undying soul, celestial joys, and unending glories 
that no earthquake could overthrow, no time destroy, 
and no wickedness undermine ; and he virtually said, 
Nothing is sure here, but everything is sure hereafter. 
All things are chaotic in the flesh ; but all things are 
orderly, beautiful, sublime, and permanent in the spirit 
form. There are no to-morrows upon the earth, but 
there is an eternal to-morrow in heaven. He con- 
stantly told us " not to lay up for ourselves treasures 
upon earth, where moth and rust would corrupt, but in 



EVERYTHING UNCERTAIN 85 

heaven, where neither moth nor rust could corrupt 
nor thieves break through and steal." He always rep- 
resented life as a trust, a discipline, and an achieve- 
ment, but also as something transient and as something 
that must be changed or merged or promoted into a 
state of being higher, holier, stronger, more brilliant, 
and really everlasting. He never for a moment flat- 
tered our longing for the perpetuity of time ; but he 
frankly told us that the Master would come for us 
in an hour when we should the least expect the visit. 
" Watch ! " was his great trumpet word. " Put on 
the wedding garment " was his main and earnest en- 
treaty, and " Come unto me " his grand and perpetual 
appeal. The apostles also, catching the spirit and the 
tone of their Master's message, continually published 
their keen sense of the insecurity of time, and clearly 
made known their vital comprehension of the instability 
of material things ; for they expected any moment 
and every moment to be called. The end they con- 
ceived as very near. Every year of life was to them 
a surprise ; and they wanted everything done at once, 
for the time was short and eternity close at hand. 
Brave men they were, and they worked nobly and well 
under the canopy of this grand idea ; and if we ever 
wonder at the amount of their doings, are amazed at 
their blazing zeal, and if they seem to us more than 
men, as with a holy velocity they anoint time with 
their finished work, just here we find the true explana- 
tion. They thought that they were tenants at will, 
and they expected very soon to be ordered to vacate 
the chambers of the flesh. What if they were mis- 



86 SERMONS 

taken in regard to the time when the great end would 
come ! They certainly were not mistaken, but were 
wonderfully wise in being ever ready for a change ; for 
the good soldier is always prepared to march. 

"Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." 
How many strange things may happen in a day! In 
fact, the nucleus of almost all great events is formed 
between the rising and the setting sun. A simple 
message from the mouth, the mere signing of a paper, 
a transient frown, — ay, as the legend has it, the mere 
spilling of a cup of tea, — and then nations have been 
shaken to their centre, and principles have been inaug- 
urated or exploded that have blessed or cursed the race. 
All great transactions hang upon the pivot of a mo- 
ment, when something done or something left undone 
has given a peculiar shape or a marked tinge to the 
ages as they have rolled rapidly away. Is it not 
enough for us, then, to look at this grand epoch of 
to-day ? and ought we not to throw our whole energy 
upon that which is so full of opportunity, so rich with 
power, so filled with beauty ? And can we have any 
desire to leap over these sublime boundaries ? Why 
should we not take the lever that is thus placed in our 
hands, and uplift the world ? Come, brother, come, sis- 
ter, think now a grand thought, speak now a quicken- 
ing word, do now a splendid deed ; and then, come 
what will, nobody can wipe that glorious record out, 
for it will stand to your credit, it will cling to your 
biography, it will perfume your life, and you will hear 
about it some day at the court of heaven. Oh, do not 
say to-morrow, or by and by, or there is time enough ! 



EVERYTHING UNCERTAIN 87 

What if all our heroes and our heroines had said just 
those things ? If so, I hardly think that any of us 
would now be basking in the light of the civilization, 
progress, and Christianity of the nineteenth century. 

A great many people have said, "To-morrow" ; but, 
when to-morrow came, they were wiped from the face 
of the earth. The true secret of great success rests in 
the fact that one should rightly understand how to 
manage the present. " Strike while the iron is hot," 
said the old proverb ; and, if we let delay throw its 
chilling coolness upon any of our enterprises, we shall 
surely be defeated. Undue haste, of course, must 
be avoided. A commendable patience is ever to be 
praised ; but a coward's sluggishness we must always 
cry down, dismiss, and put out. 

My friends, let us not be afraid, let us not be stoical, 
and let us not give up in despair when we become 
aware how uncertain everything is ; for such a state of 
mind will not help the matter in the least, and, thus 
feeling, we shall lose all our power, and become empty 
of all grace, enthusiasm, and holiness. 

I dislike to see a human being go whimpering through 
life, and quite as repulsive also is the one who looks as 
if he were made of marble ; and there is a better way 
of getting out of the difficulty or of greeting it than by 
timidity or by stoical indifference. It is the way of 
submission, trust, earnest piety, and devout consecra- 
tion. If we look upon our days as we should, if we 
anoint time as we ought, if we estimate existence in its 
right light, and bring it within the focus of its divine 
affiliations, why, nothing can throw us out of our calm- 



55 SERMONS 

ness, nothing can make us grow pale, and nothing can 
force us into despair ; for we shall have outgeneraled 
all the armies of the opposing fiend, and we shall have 
forced our enemies to a certain defeat. 

Let you and I, or anybody, be beset by trouble, why, 
then, if we hold tightly the hand of Almighty God, if 
we only lean serenely on the dear Redeemer, if we are 
thickly canopied, beautifully overshadowed, sweetly en- 
veloped, and sacredly penetrated by the Holy Spirit, 
nothing can put us down, nothing can put us out, noth- 
ing can upset us. Of course, every one's life is filled 
with thorns, covered with thistles, overclouded with 
cares ; and yet these are by no means meant to de- 
stroy us and to completely conquer our vitality. No, 
not that. In our weakness we think so, in our cow- 
ardice we may say so, and in our fretfulness we make 
believe so ; but we know better, and our inward moni- 
tor tells us that we are not thus tried that we may 
be overthrown. These constant afflictions do not come 
to upset us, but to set us up, to strengthen our faith, 
to enrich our life, and to develop our spiritual mus- 
cles ; and they are the material out of which the angels 
are ordered to build our ladders, by which each mor- 
tal can, if he only will, climb up to Almighty God. 
No matter what a day brings forth, if we only know 
how to climb toward God. In order that what we 
have said may not be misunderstood, we have some 
important concessions to make ere we close ; for every 
truth of Scripture has its reverse side, and no one sen- 
tence can completely cover all truth, and those who 
think that this can be so are our half-thinkers, our 



EVERYTHING UNCERTAIN 89 

tissue-paper people. And such play their tune all on 
one string, while they very soon get out of tune and 
out of string. There is a looking forward to the to- 
morrow that is just, honorable, right, pure, and Script- 
ural. Every person is bound to provide for his family 
beyond the day, every one is bound to look out for the 
rainy days of loss, sickness, and death ; and every 
human being is bound to look forward to the eternal 
days, and must study with all diligence all the possible 
grandeur of celestial hours. There is a vast amount of 
trust that must be based on the expectation of a future, 
both here and hereafter ; and everything would stop at 
once without such a forecasting into and a boasting of, 
if you choose to call it so, to-morrow, for a righteous 
boasting braces all trade, glorifies all friendship, en- 
riches all literature, and inspires all religion. Why, 
your ancient buildings, your richly supplied libraries, 
your splendidly endowed colleges, and everything that 
you build, sustain, and call lasting, — all these are a 
believing gaze into an unknown futurity. Every age 
lives for another age. Each century is but a magnifi- 
cent mausoleum, built out of the efforts of the past. 
All our days are echoes and prophetic intimations ; and 
this fact needs no illustration, for the proof is patent, 
clear, and beautiful. We must also be continually 
peering into the eternal kingdom ; and this duty we 
would enforce over and over again, for it is the one 
leading duty of all hearts, and yet almost all hearts are 
apt to neglect it. Some think that, if they can only 
keep the vision of the celestial future at a distance, 
they can in this way somehow postpone the reality ; 



90 SERMONS 

but that is not the case, and I rather think that the 
truth lies quite as much the other way, for those who 
stand with loving eyes gazing through the eternal gates 
are not any more quickly, and perhaps not so soon, 
invited to enter those gates, — certainly no sooner than 
those who look the other way, and who purposely put 
blinders on their eyes. I am very sure that, if any of 
us had the promise of a visit to the Old World, — a 
promise which we felt would certainly be kept, — we 
should spend a considerable part of our time in getting 
ready for the journey. We should meditate a great 
deal upon the splendors that were waiting to bless our 
aching eyes. We should pore over the books that de- 
scribed the localities which we intended to visit. We 
should talk a vast deal to our friends about our contem- 
plated tour, while they would see the joy in our eyes, 
the quiver upon our lips, and the pressure of expecta- 
tion flushing our cheek ; and this would be perfectly 
natural, and I am sure that you all can realize this fact. 
Why not, then, I ask, with a tender, solemn, and sin- 
cere earnestness, — why not the same ardor, the same 
joy, the same throbbing heart, the same glittering eyes, 
the same rosy cheek, and the same expressive lips, 
when we think of that magnificent country that we all 
shall so soon visit, where mansions are built of material 
more precious than diamonds, where fountains flow 
whose healing and sparkling waters can never any- 
where else be equalled, and where joys perennial are 
offered to the faithful traveller? Why should we not 
be all afire with enthusiasm as we think of this journey, 
which we know must be taken, and parts of which we 



EVERYTHING UNCERTAIN 9 1 

are taking with every breath that we draw ? Are we 
not allowed to boast righteously of that to-morrow when 
we shall be ushered into the city of our God ? 

Know, then, forever the difference between the vain 
boasting of to-morrow and that holy boasting, or fore- 
looking, or prophecy, which will make us ready to do 
God's will here and glad to meet God's will hereafter. 



IX. 

HOLY TRIFLES. 

"A handful of corn." — Ps. lxxii. 16. 

ONLY a handful of corn; and yet, if it be planted 
aright, in the true soil, in the appropriate time 
of the year, and according to the sure laws of agricult- 
ure, the result will be a bountiful harvest, "the little 
one will become a thousand," and time and eternity 
will rejoice, and cries of victory will ring through our 
souls and peal gloriously through heaven. So, I be- 
lieve, is the result of every good book, of every noble 
thought, of every gracious word, and of every splendid 
deed, however trifling the occasion of the exhibition, 
modest its performance, and brief the appearance ; for, 
if the spider, according to Holy Writ, "taketh hold 
with her hand and is in king's palaces," so also is 
goodness mightily persistent, wonderfully determined, 
powerfully bold, and sweetly pervasive. And many a 
good thing of which you and I have been the author, 
and which perhaps we now forget, that was done in an 
exuberant moment of holiness, will rise up, comfort us, 
and bless us at the great day of remembrance ; while 
we shall wonder, each one exclaiming, Lord, dost thou 
mean that I have performed this great, noble, comfort- 



HOLY TRIFLES 93 

ing act, that / was the first cause of all these glorious 
results ? And it will be hard to believe that the 
mighty harvest sprang only from the " handful of corn " 
that we scattered into the air or dropped upon the 
ground. Such, however, is the law of life, such are the 
revelations of time, and such will be the glorious proc- 
lamation of eternity. 

I maintain that one of the tremendous arguments in 
favor of goodness is the magnificent issues that leap 
even from the tiniest manifestation of it ; for, if we 
can accomplish so much by so little, what mortal can 
calculate the gorgeous heights of improvement that we 
may climb, if we only put forth all our efforts, dedicate 
the best strength of the will, the richest aspirations of 
the soul, and the noblest cunning of the hand ? Prob- 
ably all within reach of my voice have performed a 
great many acts of kindness during the years that have 
passed, of which perhaps they have now no recollec- 
tion ; and yet they are recorded in the better land, 
marked also in the characters of both giver and recip- 
ient, and are sending their echoes through time and 
eternity, since, by a blessed and irrevocable law of 
heaven, every act of love helps two hearts at the same 
time. 

I am stronger for the smile that was given to me the 
other day, and so, also, the one who gave it is mightier 
than ever before ; and some of the most magnificent 
oases of my life have been caused by the slightest 
expressions of good will, gratitude, and love made by 
those that I had perhaps somewhat helped, and such 
were not aware how truly they were compensating me 



94 SERMONS 

by that coin which they accounted of but little worth. 
And so ever with all of us every day of the year. 
What lessons, then, are we to learn from these facts ?' 
We must never neglect doing good because we feel 
that we can do but little. We must believe that God 
is able out of little to make much ; and we must not 
expect that the " handful of corn " will spring up at 
once, just at the instant that we sow it. We must not 
expect to live long enough to gather in all the harvest 
ourselves ; and we must remember that nothing is little 
in the sight of the Almighty, the raindrop being quite 
as dear to Him as the ocean, and He having given as 
much attention to the rounding of an insect's eye as to 
the swinging of the earth around the sun. Bethlehem 
was small, the manger was small, the babe that the 
magi worshipped was small ; and yet how really large 
all these, could a prophetic eye only have read off their 
future history ! 

Let us look a little closely at the things here to be 
taught. We must not refuse to do our little because it 
is not much. We must not turn away with disdain 
from small things, and we must keep head and heart 
and body and soul working on the right side. Oh, 
some one may say, because I cannot be a great hero, 
I will not be anybody ; but foolish indeed such a talk 
as this, just as if the spark of the firefly were not quite 
as good in its place as the mighty light of the sun, and 
a dewdrop for its own work as brave as the ocean. If 
we would only all of us do what we can without idling 
away our time by groaning over the impossible, a great 
deal would be accomplished toward hastening the com- 



HOLY TRIFLES 95 

ing of the millennium. The whole earth would begin to 
be thoroughly changed and consecrated ; and all shal- 
lowness, hypocrisy, and miserable subterfuge would 
speedily take their flight. 

But no. Some are apt to sit still and to cry out, It 
is only a " handful of corn " ; and it is not worth while 
to plant that, for it would be altogether too much 
trouble. We will wait till we get a bushel, and then 
we will go to work. So they wait, so they never begin, 
and so they pass away to the other world, thoroughly 
unfurnished. Of course, everybody cannot expect to 
reach the highest mark at once, and it takes a very 
skilful person to do that; but, if we can only master 
one virtue at a time, let us do the little that we can. 
Nay, if we never accomplish any one great thing all 
through our lives, let us try to do our best. Then we 
shall never regret the efforts that we have made ; and 
perhaps, too, by trying, we may become experts, so 
that nothing can stand in our way, so that finally we 
shall make clean work of every noble deed that we 
attempt to perform, and so that we shall be heroes or 
heroines before we know it. We must believe, too, 
that God is able out of little to make much. I claim 
that this is the very prerogative of the Infinite Power, 
and one of the great charms of His glorious benignity, 
such as ought to hold us in wonder, awe, and love 
throughout all time and all eternity. Look at creation, 
and see how it sprang from nothing ; and ever since, 
too, what tiny seeds have been the embryonic parents 
of all the grandeur in the world ! Look at mountains, 
valleys, ocean, forest, star, sun, at anything grand, 



96 SERMONS 

beautiful, inspiring, suggestive, awful, and sublime, 
Once these all were but a speck, a mote, a little 
twinkle ; and they are now called to their new, over- 
powering, and glorious stateliness by the breath of 
Almighty God. 

Had we stood some night with Abraham, gazing into 
the vault of the heavens, without doubt we should have 
seen some little streak of mist, and perhaps we might 
have said, "Oh, that is nothing, that will soon blow 
away, that is hardly worth a moment's thought, and let 
us look at something better" ; and yet this very night 
look at the brightest star of the constellation, and I 
tell you that star was the infant stream of mist that, in 
Abraham's day, so met our ridicule and called out our 
scorn. God made the little much ; and so will the 
law ever hold good, if you will only wait with patient 
trust, with a holy fidelity, and with an unyielding de- 
votion, — wait for the glorious unfolding of God's mag- 
nificent will. 

Some people sow their corn, and expect it to spring 
right up to-day or to-morrow or next week ; while, 
if they do not receive an instantaneous harvest, they 
grow moody, peevish, discontented, and atheistic. But 
the Almighty does not move right away. "With Him 
a thousand years are as one day." He taught the 
law, " First the blade, and then the ear, and then the 
full corn in the ear." He ordered the world to wait 
four thousand years before he sent his Son ; while now 
nearly nineteen hundred years since the advent have 
rolled away, yet hardly the outermost rim of Christian- 
ity is grazed. And why should we poor mortals expect 



HOLY TRIFLES 97 

such speedy results, when all nature and the workings 
of grace move so slowly ? The way to anything good 
is step by step, and all the time we have a long and 
tough contest ; but victory will come to the brave and 
the holy ones. One has sweetly said : — 

" Much in sorrow, oft in woe, 
Onward, Christian, onward go ! 
Fight the fight, and, worn by strife, 
Steep with tears the bread of life. 

" Onward, Christian, onward go ! 
Join the war, and face the foe. 
Faint not! much doth yet remain, 
Dreary is the long campaign. 

" Let your drooping hearts be glad ; 
March, in heavenly armor clad. 
Fight, nor think the battle long : 
Victory soon shall tune your song." 

Friends, a willingness to wait for the fruitage of the 
seed is the sign of a heroic mind, a trusting heart, and 
a stalwart soul ; while he or she who turns back from 
the royal road, goaded by impatience, stung by rest- 
lessness, tired of trusting, and thinking there can be 
no apocalypse, because the grandeur is so long con- 
cealed, — such a one must be branded as somewhat of 
a traitor to God, is not worthy of the fullest Christian 
approbation, and must have a very weakened heart. 
So, too, we may not live long enough to see the har- 
vest ourselves ; for many sow, while others reap. For 
the summons from the Celestial Kingdom ordering us 
to " go up higher " will not always wait for us to finish 



98 SERMONS 

our work, but calls us off at seasons that frequently 
seem untimely, and when certainly the need for us on 
the earth appears the most keen, sharp, and attractive ; 
and yet all the same shall the harvest be seen, — yea, 
shall be garnered, — and the "handful of corn" will 
somehow find its blessed ripening in heaven. For our 
country and God's are not so far apart but that the 
good here echoes there, so that really nothing spiritual 
is ever lost. 

When a good person falls asleep, we exclaim, What 
an untimely death ! What a loss such a one was, cut 
off right in his or her usefulness, and at the height of 
his or her best fame ! But, friends, nothing holy is 
really lost. Not only are there left behind example, 
influence, power, and a golden record, but also quite 
as truly there will go into the Celestial City a grace, 
sweetness, loveliness, and sanctity that will be re- 
clothed, — there enlarged, enriched, hallowed, and 
made beautiful, and then sent back to us poor mortals 
for our uplifting, consecration, and redemption. The 
saint, too, who has seemingly left work undone here, 
undoubtedly looks down upon the result, helping on, 
also, all the time, the ripening, and richly rewarded 
and thoroughly compensated for all the sufferings and 
toils of the life in the flesh ; and no handful of spiritual 
corn can fail of securing its eternal harvest. 

So, too, let us always bear in mind that nothing is 
little in the sight of Almighty God ; that oftentimes, 
when we say small, He says large, and, when we cry 
out insignificant, He is labelling the very same thing 
mighty. I would repeat, Bethlehem was small, the 



HOLY TRIFLES 99 

manger was small, the babe that the magi worshipped 
was small ; and yet just think what has been the result 
of that magnificent littleness ! I am inclined to think 
that our best things have been amazingly small at the 
start, and also that our greatest characters had but very 
little to show at first. 

So, when I only detect the seeds of goodness in a 
young man or woman, I am greatly encouraged ; for 
I dream of the possible future, I muse upon what has 
been done and what may be accomplished, I calculate 
the sure gains that will fall to a stalwart spirit year by 
year, and I have almost a conviction that the one 
whom the world calls not much now, will, in God's 
good time, become gigantic in holiness. For, when we 
get a few good principles with which to start, the prob- 
lem concerning the apocalypse is easily stated. 

Here is the gist of the whole matter. It must be 
spiritual corn ; it must, too, be the hand full of it ; 
and then we may trust, and we may be assured that 
God will prepare a glorious issue. 

Now, my friends, have we all of us a few grand prin- 
ciples established in our souls, and would we sooner 
lose our lives than swerve one inch from a strict adher- 
ence to those principles ? I am afraid that too many of 
us live without any settled purpose. We say we will 
take things as they come ; but they come upon us like 
an avalanche, so that, instead of our taking them, they 
take us, lift us right off from our feet, throw us from 
our balance, and bury us with shame before we know 
it, simply because we had not the battlements ready, 
the powder prepared, and the cannon mounted, so that 



IOO SERMONS 

we could make a stout resistance. And all our false 
steps are apt to be caused in this way. We did not 
dream of danger, we counted everybody as honest as 
ourselves, we thought that all meant to do about right, 
we were entirely unaware of the unprotected state of 
our own citadel ; and so the enemy came, and soon 
bound us into his terrible mastership. But had we, 
considering the certainty of temptation, the frailty of 
human nature, and the thousand and one intrigues of 
Satan, — had we thought how unsupported all were who 
had no support but simply their own weak wishes, we 
should have planted our good corn right in the centre 
of our souls ; and then we should have been safe, and 
this royal food would have been thus labelled : I will 
constantly pray ; I will never, under any circumstances, 
state or act that which is untrue ; I will never take 
from another that which does not belong to me ; I will 
never encourage wrong thoughts and unholy desires ; 
and I will bear in mind that the eye of God is ever 
upon me, and that no place is dark enough to conceal 
His great look. Ah ! if these rules, that are really spir- 
itual corn, were planted way into the centre of our 
being, were they always practised, and were they as 
much the law of our life as our daily breath is a law of 
our living body, then all the attacks of Satan would 
be in vain. We might get scarred, bruised, and badly 
wounded, but never overthrown. God grant that we 
may be thus armed, equipped, and sanctified for His 
service ! 

But how is this handful of corn to be found in the 
first place ? Certainly, I would not have you for a 



HOLY TRIFLES IOI 

moment think that I deem you are able, from your own 
centre, to lift yourselves up to glory. You can do 
nothing to any effect. You cannot even pray without 
some help ; and some one must show you what to do, 
how to do it, and must take hold of your hand all the 
time, aiding you to do it, and that some one is, — I 
adore his name, I would magnify his power, and I 
would bow at his feet, — that some one is Jesus Christ. 
And he has said, " I am the Way, the Truth, and the 
Life." If, then, we would be safe, cleansed, and finally 
crowned, if we would plant our handful of corn in the 
right place, and be sure of a glorious harvest, we must 
find our way through Christ, we must learn the nature 
of truth through his teachings, and we must firmly 
believe, and never forget, that the life that cannot 
perish is found alone through his precious help. 



FAILURES AND ANTICIPATIONS. 

" Not having received the promises, but having seen them afar 
off." — Heb. xi. 13. 

THERE is the great wail of the human heart, the 
mighty sorrow of all ages, the stereotyped moan- 
ings of the soul, the aching disappointment of life, not 
having the promises, the gifts, the desired opportu- 
nities, the grand success, the one dream of life, but see- 
ing the prizes, — yes, seeing them, reaching after them, 
begging for them; but they are "afar off," way into 
the dim future, perhaps forever out of our grasp, per- 
haps belonging to somebody else, and we want them, 
— oh, we want them so much ! — now. 

If any one could dissect spiritually each one of our 
hearts, and publish the result, and make a catalogue of 
our disappointed visions or postponed wishes or shat- 
tered hopes, of those things yet "afar off" for which 
our eyes are straining and our hands are grasping and 
our hearts are pleading, sad would be the statement, 
tearful the description, dreary our view of life for 
a while ; and each soul would cry out, O God, why, 
why, tell us why ! The dream of the boy or girl, of 
the young man and maiden, of the one in mid-life, of 



FAILURES AND ANTICIPATIONS IO3 

all in old age, "afar off," coming, but not here, prom- 
ised, but not fulfilled, or perhaps seemingly forever 
floating out of sight. 

Quite a book might be written of the unattained 
desires, the unfulfilled hopes, the broken plans, the 
splendid dreams, — airy, but not substantial, — the post- 
poned glories of our childhood. I know that we are 
not apt to treat this experience of childhood very rever- 
ently, very tenderly, very hopefully, except when we 
are in it, or when we recall our own biography, or 
when we read about it in a finished life ; but, at the 
time when we are looking at it, it calls out our smiles 
or our pity or our blame, we not stopping to think 
that here one of the great dramas of life is being 
played out. I wish that these little ones could tell us 
what they see "afar off," could write about their visions, 
guesses, and panoramas, and sketch out their hopes, 
fears, and determinations, and could show to us clearly 
what they see coming as their prizes and what they are 
building up, called "castles in the air"; for then, I 
think, we should know better how to understand them, 
how to train them, how to prepare them for the real 
battle of life. But, oh, how much they conceal in the 
sacred citadel of the brain, how much they hide in the 
holy palace of their heart, how much they would not 
for the world speak out, so that human beings could 
have the faintest guess of the reality ! It is a life within 
a life, and covered all over with a blanket, known only 
to themselves and to their God, that all children, to 
quite an extent, are living ; and they are all the time 
building up that which must inevitably be shattered 



104 SERMONS 

before the mortal career is finished, or that which, if it 
comes, will take a long while to come, and the road to 
which at times will be heavy, painful, and dark. 

Again, when we were young men and maidens, we 
were accustomed to see things " afar off." Young 
people build their castles in the air, and have their 
dreams, not to be expressed. I do not wish to lift the 
veil of these postponed or unsubstantial or shattered 
hopes; of fortunes made out of nothing; of hearts 
seemingly gained that never were found ; of grand 
enterprises accomplished that never were begun ; or of 
some deferred reality that is a long while on the way, 
and is wearing the heart out by its slow journey. Oh, 
no ! I would not lift the veil ; but I ask you now, in 
this sacred place, to lift it up to your own vision, and 
tell yourselves of those things "afar off" that you once 
thought so near, and tell me, Am I not right when I 
say that all of you, myself included, could show a mau- 
soleum of seemingly buried hopes, or at least could 
show some terrible postponements, that give a fearful 
knock at the door of patience all the time ? 

So, too, the same lesson comes to all in mid-life and 
in old age, an anxious repetition all the time, a reaching 
forward for something that does not come, a looking 
back upon a dreary and unfulfilled past, a counting up 
of shattered desires ; for all the way along, from birth to 
seeming death, are scattered the wrecks of visions. 

Well, I am not disposed to think that all these failures 
besetting us all the time, — the unaccomplished desires, 
the great and sometimes grand and beautiful dream- 
land of humanity, — that this wiping away of longings 



FAILURES AND ANTICIPATIONS 105 

is meant for a punishment, or is sent by a vindictive 
power, or is even a great, black cloud overhanging our 
destiny, since, I am sure, in the end, either here or 
hereafter, we shall thank God over and over again that 
He, in His great wisdom, demolished even our best 
castles in the air, that He did not leave the shaping 
of our course wholly to our own counsel, that He per- 
mitted us often to be wounded in our best anticipa- 
tions, and set us back, way back, many a time, when 
we wanted to go forward, when we felt that there was 
every reason that we should go forward, and when we 
tried, almost desperately, to break the bars down that 
caged us in, — yes, we shall thank God for His restrain- 
ing hand, tremblingly, tearfully, and rejoicingly, by and 
by. I remember once I said to myself, looking at 
something I wanted to do, and yet seemed to be held 
back from doing, and the words seemed to come right 
upon my lips : — 

Wait ! thou canst not know thy fate, 

The hidden things that lie deep 
In the counsels of God's state, 

While we wake and while we sleep. 

A weaving is round the throne, 
Of all God's plans, good and pure, 

In the present all unknown, 
In the future all secure. 

The Almighty's ways are grand, 

But are hidden from our sight. 
Of us all does He command 

Holy waiting for the right. 



106 SERMONS 

I waited, and the glory came ; and I wish that the laws 
regulating a printed sermon would allow me to tell 
everybody how gloriously it came. 

So I believe it is ordered in the same way, wisely 
for us all, not as we wish or dream or pray it may be, 
but something better, something that will last longer, 
something that will bless us on earth and in heaven. 

" Not having received the promises, but having seen 
them afar off." 

But there is another view that we can take of these 
words that is more comforting, perhaps ; that is, although 
we may not get the prizes we crave, we shall see them, 
or something greatly better, approaching us, and the 
seeing of them shall cheer us all the way along the 
path of life. They will go before us, beckon us on, 
encourage us, and make our tasks easy, under the 
softening, uplifting, and strengthening light that they 
throw behind. 

Perhaps, too, the seeing " afar off " that which will 
be ours if we are faithful will make us more willing to 
work hard now, will reconcile us to a good many sharp 
battles, will keep our spirits up, will make us brave, 
pure, holy, and hopeful, and will give to our work an 
added light, joy, and peace. If we can see the good 
time coming, know that it is coming, and know that 
there can be no delay after the proper time, if we do our 
part, why, then, we shall be all ready to stand in our lot, 
take up our burden, and march on without complaint. 
Yes, the grandest victories accomplished in life are 
built up out of the encouragement that has been given 
from the things seen "afar off" ; and it is only as the 



FAILURES AND ANTICIPATIONS IO7 

heroes and the heroines do see ahead that they become 
so great, successful, and glorious. 

I am working, said a man to me many years ago, not 
for the profits that my business will bring to me, but so 
that I may become the first in my business, the leader 
in it ; so that my word can be taken as soon as given, 
my honor be unquestioned, and my name be without a 
blot. That is my aim. Well, he accomplished what 
he sought. He beheld the prize in advance, marched 
forward, and gained it. It was " afar off " then, but it 
is his now, and he is well paid for every struggle, every 
sacrifice, and all hard toil ; but so spiritually are the 
prizes always gained. We see heaven " afar off," when 
we are in our best moods ; and, if we keep that sight 
clear, crisp, glorious, beautiful, and inspiring, if it hangs 
before us in all its majesty, why, then, every day we 
shall fight the good fight, and shall be strengthened, 
uplifted, and comforted by the lights from above. 

These views helped the apostles, comforted the mar- 
tyrs, and inspired all the great men of the Church; and 
they help every humble, seeking, praying, and loving 
soul to-day. Glory be to God ! 

Anybody can tell what sort of men we are, or what 
sort of women we are, or what sort of children we are, 
if we will only tell what sort of visions we see "from 
afar." 

Have we been dreaming all through life only of fame, 
pleasure, wealth, and a butterfly existence ? Have we 
been enthroning ourselves in the high places, and for- 
getting all about everybody else, — in fact, using every- 
body else only that we may mount up and up to fleeting 



108 SERMONS 

honors and to unsubstantial joys? Is it the great "I" 
that we are all the time worshipping, the " I " on the 
worldly side, and the " I " that we see placed on the 
throne ? Well, then, everybody knows what we are, 
God knows what we are ; and such a vision will belittle 
us, and cramp us, and injure us, every day of our lives. 
Every one that steers only toward the enthronement 
of self, and sees only that vision in the distance, steers 
toward destruction. But I trust that our dreams are 
all another way. I hope that goodness, thorough good- 
ness, stands before us, and holiness, complete holiness, 
is " afar off," in our vision, as I hope sometimes that 
will some day be really ours that we are looking toward 
being accepted children of God, loving disciples of 
Jesus, and those who are sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 
I hope that we are looking toward being great bene- 
factors to everybody, — not crushing humanity, but lift- 
ing it up, helping hearts all the time, and blessing souls 
forever. I hope that the pedestal that looms up in the 
distance, on which we expect to stand, is broad enough 
to include all our brothers and sisters ; and, should any 
not be found there, that it will be their fault, and not 
ours. 

Ah! my brother and sister, what do we see "afar 
off"? Well, that brings us to our last point, — how do 
we view heaven that seems " afar off," but may be very, 
very near ? Shall we know each other in God's city ? 
Shall dear ones live together there ? Shall we work as 
well as pray ? Will it be very homelike there, only 
ever so much better than our dear home here ? The 
" afar off " that we call heaven seems very near, but 



FAILURES AND ANTICIPATIONS I 09 

one door between us and that place ; and, when we get 
there, our identity will be preserved, we shall all know 
and love each other there, and there will be many man- 
sions there, the private homes of each of our families, 
and we shall do the work of God there, for our own 
souls and for other souls, and it may be for many souls 
upon the earth. And so, too, without doubt, we shall 
be gathered together in heaven for special seasons of 
worship, the Sundays of the Celestial City. 

And will any be left out, you may ask me ? Well, 
God only knows about that ; but one thing we know : 
all can go there who wish so to do, who obey God's 
will, who follow the precepts of our Master, and who 
seek for large supplies of the Holy Spirit ; and, if the 
door should be forever shut, it will not be because 
God shuts it, but because we ourselves hold the door 
tightly, fasten it with locks, bolts, and chains, and are 
determined that it never shall be opened. 

Glory be to God ! salvation is free. The call is to 
every soul, " Come." God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit 
are not afar off, but close by, right here, and ours, if we 
will, forever. 



XL 

THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION. 

" Let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, one for 
Moses, one for Elias." — Matt. xvii. 4. 

THESE words were spoken upon a mountain that 
•is now very sacred on account of that utterance, 
and because the steps of very holy travellers have been 
felt upon its glorious summit. You without doubt have 
noticed that all through the Bible there are special 
and striking indications that mountains are holy. All 
through the Mosaic dispensation, tingling through the 
sweet and splendid strains of the psalmist, running 
along in the rejoicing or the moaning of the Israelites 
before and after the captivity, gracefully decorating 
the teachings of Jesus, and fortifying and enriching the 
preaching of the apostles, is the great truth presented, 
and enforced, of the sublimity of immense heights. 

It is now supposed that the transfiguration of Jesus 
took place on Mount Hermon, and that it was here 
where the apostle Peter wished to stay forever; and 
this was the place, as it is now thought, where the future 
glory of the Master was so beautifully foreshadowed. 
Here the air was clear, the prospect delightful, the 
seclusion and safety perfect ; and here all vain desires 



THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION III 

would be banished, all insinuating temptations disap- 
pear, all carking cares end, and it would be an eternal 
vacation for the soul, with nothing to molest or make 
it afraid. Why not stay here forever and ever ? I do 
not wonder that the ardent Peter wanted to build three 
tabernacles in that blessed spot. This scene has a les- 
son for our daily living, for we all of us have our trans- 
figuration times, our blessed and hallowed experiences, 
our vacations of rest and recreation that we would fain 
keep constantly within our reach ; but we are to learn 
that the rough roads are to be travelled as well as the 
easy ones, the clouds are to be entered as well as 
the sunshine, and duty is to be taken up as well as joy 
to be embraced. There are several mounts where we 
all the time want to pitch our tents, the two most 
prominent of which are the Mount of Vision and the 
Mount of Victory. 

First, the Mount of Vision. Splendid visions come 
only as the occasional oases of our lives in the desert, 
and are then so truly beautiful, so comforting, and so 
uplifting that we hate to let them go, and we would 
fain dream our life away under the glow of their mag- 
nificence ; for we like the clear air of a burning truth, 
we enjoy the gracious outlook of a splendid fact, and 
the conception of what ought to be sends us to the 
ground at first, bewildered, and then starts us up again 
with the resolve that we will muse forever upon the 
holy possibility. We deem that it is well enough for us 
to think out the future ; and then no one will envy 
us, no one will disturb us, there will be no vain tussling, 
no hard knocks, and nothing rough, teasing, and pain- 



SERMONS 



ful, but all will be as clear as a sunbeam. Let us stay 
just here, cry the enthusiasts, and do not ask us to 
speak, to explain, to teach, and to publish ; for we like 
best the air of a quiet, solid, and holy contemplation. 
But all that so speak are cowards, for life was not 
made to be seen and met on its easy side alone. And 
the upper regions of insight, that are healthy, joyous, 
and holy regions, as far as they go, do not go far 
enough; and it is one thing to see a thing, but it is 
quite another thing to take it up, handle it, and work 
out its special, grand, and triumphal meaning, and 
application must be added to theory, ideas must be 
stamped by reality, proof must follow conviction, and 
dreams will never conquer the world and never scale 
heaven. An ideal life, of course, there must be ; for 
you and I have great need of the gales of refreshing 
thoughts, as they are forced upon us from the top- 
most peak of a spiritual and mental Hermon. But we 
must descend the mountain, would we gain our richest 
strength, fall into the groove of our best culture, and 
cause a waiting world to be filled with beauty, holiness, 
grace, and power. 

Again, we are too apt to stay content with the Mount 
of Victory and this is the way that so many men and 
women disappoint us ; for they really do a few splendid 
things, and then seem to go into obscurity at once, as 
if a great success, reached once or twice in a lifetime, 
completed the hero or heroine, instead of really pre- 
paring him or her for an interminable number of con- 
tests, for the purpose of keeping up the credit and the 
solidity of the first success. There is no such thing 



THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION 113 

as standing still upon the earth, and counting up the 
prizes ; for, if we are not going forward, we are, insensi- 
bly it may be, but inevitably, losing ground. And, in 
our moral and our spiritual natures, we are called upon 
to wrestle all the time ; and every battle that we gain 
ought to be only the prelude to a greater one that 
must be fought. How many people there are who are 
satisfied with merely showing up and showing off their 
trophies, and who say, I did this or that ; but such are 
not our real heroes and our solid heroines, for those 
who are made up in the right sort of way never stop to 
speak of what they have done, but they leave that for 
outsiders to recount, while they march on to more work 
and more work, ever and forever more. Success may 
crush one's usefulness all to atoms just as well as fail- 
ure ; and there are quite as many wrecks on the shores 
of gain as on the shores of loss. 

"Our first scholars in college," said the late President 
Felton, "are but seldom the first men in the world ; and 
some of our young men who had but little or no rank 
in the academical scale have made their mark after 
graduation." This is very plain; for the successful 
ones fluttered around their honors, built their taberna- 
cles in the mountains of success, passed their whole 
time in counting up their transient gains, and of course 
died out of notice, fell from power, and were plunged 
into obscurity. It is a great thing for us to learn how 
to bear being successful, and not to grow small right 
away from the very moment of the consciousness of 
the fact; and the constant rule should be with us, if 
we attain to a great victory to-day, that we must count 



114 SERMONS 

that victory as nothing, but go forward to greater gains, 
and so on and on ever. For really weak in the knees 
are we all, and weaker at the heart, if, after we have 
made our first success, we refuse to try any more, and 
go around the world telling everybody of what we have 
already accomplished. No, no ! We must learn to keep 
our pride down ; we must never give up the ship till 
the sinking time comes ; and then, even as the upper 
deck ripples on the bosom of the waves, let the boom- 
ing of the last gun be heard, that the world may find 
us alive and awake to the closing breath. I believe 
in always winning victories till the breath ceases. I 
think that there is something noble in never letting 
opportunity go unblessed ; and I would like to have 
engraved on my tombstone these words, provided they 
could be truthfully uttered : "What he accomplished he 
accounted as nothing, as he beheld the little actual, 
as always brought into contrast with the tremendous 
possible ; and he ever taught that there was something 
more to be done, and that no time could be given for 
resting on the oars." I know of no epitaph, my friends, 
of which I should be more proud than that, if, on the 
reverse side of the stone, it could be also stated that 
he believed all effort was futile without the inspiration 
of Almighty God. 

"One for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias." 
I think that there is a tinge of selfishness about these 
words that strikes one somewhat sadly. Here, for all 
time, the apostle wanted to stay with Jesus, Moses, and 
Elias, and in company with James and John. Why, he 
forgot all about the great crowd at the foot of the hill ! 



THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION 115 

He forgot all about the other disciples ; and he did not 
bear in mind the then existing world, and the possible 
inhabitants of the future. . But he wants simply a good 
time for that small company ; and he wishes that the 
great head of the lawgivers, and the great head of 
the prophets, and Jesus, who was priest, prophet, and 
king all in one, should belong only to three persons. 
His good fortune seems to make him fearfully exclu- 
sive ; and yet how like this experience to the experience 
of everybody in the full flush of success, from the little 
child with the cake or apple that is shared with but a 
few, while lots of wistful eyes and aching mouths are 
near at hand, longing to be noticed, or like the men or 
women with their few intimates, for whom nothing is too 
good, and their many acquaintances, to whom nothing 
is ever given ! Ah ! that little talk on Mount Transfig- 
uration is acted every day in New England, and every- 
where, over and over again ; for we do not like to scatter 
our good fortune all around us. We are willing that 
everybody should go to heaven, but we are not yet 
quite willing to give heaven to everybody here below ; 
and I sometimes think that there are those who expect 
to find "parks" and "squares" and "palaces" in the 
Celestial City for what are called the more prosper- 
ous classes, with smaller accommodations for the less 
fortunate. 

Be this as it may, we are all too exclusive. We con- 
gratulate ourselves altogether too much when anything 
fortunate happens to us : we want our three taberna- 
cles then, and only three ; and we are inclined to shut 
out from our good fortune all the rest of the world. 



Il6 SERMONS 

Do you remember that expressive piece of the poet? 
Let me quote some of it, for it is full of gracious 



Ne'er a one have I. 

Cleon dwelleth in a palace, 

In a cottage I. 

But the poorer of the twain 

Is Cleon, and not I. 

Cleon, true, possesseth acres, 

But the landscape I. 

Half the charms to me it yieldeth 

Money cannot buy. 

Cleon sees no charm in nature, 

In a daisy I. 

Cleon hears no anthems ringing 

In the sea and sky. 

Nature sings to me forever, 

Earnest listener I. 

State for state, with all attendants, 

Who would change ? Not I." 

So God, my friends, whether we will or will not, will 
make our three tabernacles large enough for more than 
those special few that we, with our short sight, have 
chosen for distinguished favor. 

"One for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias." 
May not the apostle have really had a good intention in 
the utterance of these words ? and may he not have 
wanted a right easy place for his Master, as well as for 
himself ? For he had seen Jesus suffer enough ; and 
now he was glad that he was glorified, and he wants 
him to remain glorified forever. His heart is bursting 
with pity, and he wants to put an end to all further 



THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION 1 17 

pain ; but he was mistaken. He was carried away by 
his good nature : he did not understand a true Christian 
philosophy; and yet he loved his Master, and, like an 
over-fond mother, wanted to shield him from all trouble. 
How like us all ! for we try to save our loved ones from 
that which perhaps, in the end, will be the making of 
their characters, the enriching of their hearts, and the 
glorifying of their souls. We think that the feather bed 
will be better for them than the hard board, or hover- 
ing around the furnace will be more safe than breathing 
the icy air ; and we want them in every respect very 
comfortable. But this have we yet to learn : that stal- 
wart frames and massive souls are not thus made ; for 
oaks do not grow in hot-houses, and would wither if 
pelted by sunshine all the time. I think we must let 
our children sometimes meet with a little roughness, or 
else they will become some day what the prophet called 
half made. We cannot keep our dearest ones on the 
top of Mount Transfiguration forever. Of course, they 
look happy there, they shine beautifully there, and 
they have nothing but enjoyment there; but, if we 
would have them truly grand, we must let them come 
down, — nay, we must urge them to come down into 
the valley, although, while we speak, our voices choke 
and our tears fall. Dear Christian friends, there is one 
splendid tabernacle that we can carry with us wherever 
we go, in the valley or anywhere, by the aid of which 
even dark places will be made bright, slippery places 
will become smooth, and painful adventures will be 
found full of good cheer. 

Jesus is the true spiritual Hermon, and he will make 



Il8 SERMONS 

even work a rest, duty a delight, pain a pleasure ; and 
his companions are ever satisfied, wherever they may 
be, for they carry continually a smile on their face, dia- 
mond words on their lips, and they make every day that 
they live a real refreshment and a true mountain splen- 
dor. They have with them, too, not only the Saviour, 
but also Moses and Elias and the whole company of the 
prophets, the apostles, and the martyrs. Yea, verily, 
they have with them also the familiar angel forms that 
once in the flesh were near and choice, who are as a 
body-guard to their wavering steps, and to them there 
is no such thing as fail, no such experience as despair, 
and no word like death ; for they march along all the 
time with a band of heavenly music, with a choice 
celestial choir, and everybody loves to be near to the 
places where they go. Who of us have found and who 
of us are following this all-sufficing tabernacle, and 
who of us are sheltered by such a tent as that? That 
ancient splendor of Hermon amounts to but very little 
unless we have made it a coronation to our own hearts, 
and have caught something of the bracing air of the 
glorious summit. 

Finally, my brother and my sister, may the great 
tabernacle of heaven be your shelter throughout eter- 
nity, and may every child of God find a good tent on 
the other side ! If the call should come to-night, would 
we go forward singing " Home, sweet, sweet home," 
and sure, very sure, of the vacant chamber marked by 
our name, in the other city ? It is said that, after a 
fearful war, in which the English soldiers had been very 
brave, no sign of shrinking being seen even at the can- 



THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION 119 

non's mouth, no tear stealing down the cheek, and no 
heaving of the breath, the regiments returned to their 
native town, and, all at once, some one struck up that 
dear old tune, " Home, home, sweet, sweet home." Oh, 
then, what a shower of tears fell on those scarred and 
brown faces, what a trembling appeared in those seem- 
ingly marble limbs ! for they felt they had arrived at 
home. 

Will it be so with us, as we stand inside the Golden 
Gate ? 

" Let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, 
one for Moses, one for Elias." Well, if we will build 
these tabernacles in the centre of our hearts, in the 
cathedral of the soul, if we will have a perfect law of 
duty there that shall never be questioned, a prophecy 
of truth and righteousness there that shall always be 
honored, and the Lord Jesus Christ abiding there 
forever and ever, we shall be safe, strengthened, and 
glorified all through time, and all through eternity. 



XII. 

THE STRANGE INTERMINGLING OF 
EVENTS. 

u As if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel."— Ezek. x. io. 

IT is, indeed, very strange how the wheel seems to 
be within the wheel, as the events of life roll along, 
so that no human being can clearly read the message, 
prophesy the issue, and understand the revelation when 
it breaks forth. 

The biography of each one of us is a grand surprise 
to everybody else, but, if possible, a still greater mys- 
tery to ourselves. What we meant to do we have neg- 
lected to do ; what we never expected to see has come ; 
what seemed sure has disappeared. Our victories and 
our defeats have both been unexpected, in a certain 
sense undeserved, and in every sense not of our own 
shaping or making, so that, if we were not Christians, 
and if we did not know that the Providential hand is 
guiding the career of time and the issues of eternity, 
we should be very apt to fall back upon the old doc- 
trine of fate, and of course should be bewildered and 
shattered by doubt and by despair. Take any fifty per- 
sons that you have known for twenty years or more, 
and write down what you thought each would do and 



THE STRANGE INTERMINGLING OF EVENTS 12 1 

each would become, and then, right opposite to your 
guesses and your dreams, write down what each one 
has done and what each one has become, and you will 
be astonished at the vast contrast. Your beggar will 
be the prince, and your prince will be the beggar ; your 
dunce will be the scholar, and your scholar will almost 
be a dunce ; and everything and everybody will seem 
to be turned the other way. I do not know how to ac- 
count for these strange facts, unless we are each and 
all to be taught never to sketch the future of anybody, 
never to trust to our own poor judgment, and always to 
keep in mind that " the race is not to the swift, nor the 
battle to the strong." 

Toward the commencement of this century, in one 
of the law offices of Boston there was an ungainly boy 
who was nicknamed by all his associates, and esteemed 
by everybody as but of very little account ; and prob- 
ably any one of his neighbors at that day would have 
predicted for him a very quiet and obscure and useless 
life. His deep-set eyes, overarching brows, and mas- 
sive head, with a body not the most attractive, aroused 
no great notice among the crowd. Nay, one who daily 
met him at those times told me that he seemed only 
like a common boy, from whom not much was to be 
expected. Yet that person's fame as lawyer, orator, 
statesman, cabinet minister, and scholar has had an 
echo all around the world, and has given to America a 
power and a greatness of which we all should be justly 
proud ; for, when you call the name of Daniel Webster, 
you speak of one who has been crowned all over the 
world as of imperial mind. 



122 SERMONS 

But this single case is only a sample of a thousand 
other cases, with which you all are familiar, where the 
result is greater than the expectation, and the guess 
but a miserable photograph of the reality. So I want 
to maintain that in all the circumstances of our lives 
there is a wheel within a wheel, by which our whole 
history is changed and mastered. 

It does make a considerable difference at the start 
whether we are born in America or in Africa, of poor 
parents or of rich ones, in the line of intellectual power 
or from ignorant progenitors, successors to hereditary 
crimes or with a loyal and holy background tinging 
with glory and beauty all past ages. So, too, it is im- 
portant where we go to church or to school, what books 
we read, what companions we choose, and what daily 
influences engirdle us. So, too, a vast account is to be 
placed to our disposition, whether it be calm or petu- 
lant, hopeful or sad. Yet, despite all these things, so 
important, so much to be considered and studied, and 
holding such an iron control of our destiny, something 
more, which nobody can exactly explain, has hold of 
us, and makes us great or small as we resist or accept 
the pressure. Of course, under favorable conditions of 
birth, it is very much easier for one to go through life 
a hero or a heroine ; and the silver spoon that is placed 
in the mouth at the start is a help, an incentive, and 
a strong impulse toward success. Yet how many of 
these silver spoons have lost their lustre, how many 
promising babes have escaped into nothingness, and 
how many hot-house buds have wilted and miserably 
perished ! It is by no means an assured thing that the 



THE STRANGE INTERMINGLING OF EVENTS 



I2 3 



children of wealthy parents inevitably are to strike the 
highest mark forever ; for, grand as are their privileges, 
and golden as is the promise of their future, they some- 
times are dismantled by their very luxuries, and choked 
and smothered by over-much good fortune. The ad- 
vantage, I suppose we must all concede, is very fre- 
quently on the side of those who enter the world 
unheralded, unsheltered, and unwelcome, jostled and 
shaken by penury, and battered and shattered by the 
storms of time ; for, if they possess a nature of oak, 
they will show the value of their timber in due season. 

Again, all must concede that the American has a 
great gain in his birth over the African, and is way 
ahead of him in the commencement ; yet, as we read 
all history, way back in the twilight of ages, we have 
no reason for supposing that the one will always keep 
forever ahead of the other, through all time and all 
eternity. For, as you all know, Africa was once cele- 
brated for the arts and the sciences, when this country 
was rilled with savage tribes ; and who can say but 
that there may dawn another day of brightness ? So, 
also, a succession from ignorance, or an inheritance of 
crime, or a legacy of anything bad or weak, is terribly 
unfortunate, — a heavy blow and a fearful pull-back; yet 
despite all these things, and in the very face of them, 
have many been raised to glory and honor, and many 
too, — oh, sad it is to speak it! — even in a succession 
of rooted holiness, have gone down hill with a velocity 
fearful to behold. 

Somehow or other, there seems to be a wheel within 
a wheel, an unseen wheel, whose mysterious whirl sends 



124 SERMONS 

a chant or a dirge upon the air, and cheers or saddens 
many a heart. So, in the start, growth, success, and 
decay of all the nations, we see examples of the same 
law. Be it Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian, Macedonian, 
Roman, British, or American power, everything is 
strange from the planting, culture, and full strength ; 
and, then, how wonderful when decay comes, how 
strange, perplexing, exciting, way on to the end ! 

From almost nothing the start begins, by almost 
nothing glory comes, and then the light is put out 
quite as strangely. 

Ah ! we know not in what seeming trifles are the 
germs of empires, nor from what slight occurrences 
majestic power finds its embryonic decay. It is all one 
mighty entanglement, that can be taken apart thread 
by thread only by the wisdom that never fails. 

I suppose, in the history of woman, this strange com- 
plexity is the most wonderfully shown in that step where 
she finds some one whom she intends some day to call 
by the dearest name of all. All at once she meets the 
appointed one, by no will of her own, in some strange 
coincidence, and he may be the very opposite to all 
that she dreamed, and she may, when she first sees 
him, declare that he can never be to her anything more 
than a stranger ; yet a decree has gone forth in councils 
higher than mortals that the two hearts shall be made 
one, and the maiden all at once finds herself promising 
to be a wife. The one that wants her companionship 
may come from a distant land, and may wish to carry 
her away to foreign climes ; yet she goes, for she is led 
by a way not her own and by a wisdom that never fails. 



THE STRANGE INTERMINGLING OF EVENTS 1 25 

Ask her, — ask any married woman, — Has not the 
whole course of your married life differed from your 
youthful dreams, and yet somehow proved to be the 
guiding of a will better than mortals ? Even when a 
marriage is unhappy, still then a heavenly hand may 
be in it by way of discipline, that the sufferers may 
learn forbearance, patience, trust, holy hope, and even 
in darkness see God's hand and the promise of better 
days. So do we find this strange combination of un- 
certainty, these side issues, and these interacting, inter- 
penetrating, and contradictory forces in the growth of 
our moral and spiritual characters. Opinions and prin- 
ciples are formed very strangely. So also our growth 
in grace proceeds from a rule that overleaps and out- 
wits all our shrewdest calculation. We go to a certain 
church because our father and mother went there 
before us ; and so, from influence and association, we 
form our ideas, make up our minds, and just as 
strangely do we acquire our spiritual life. 

Our souls are quickened by a tract handed to us on 
the street or by a stray passage in a sermon or by an 
earnest prayer or by a sudden sickness or by a sharp 
death or by some grand and sublime scenery or in 
some awful silence, when there are deep meditations 
and the inner voice is like a richly toned bell. Ah ! in 
many ways does the Holy Ghost reach us, stir us up, 
bend us low, and turn us to better purposes and to a 
holier life. 

A lawyer in a neighboring town was a scoffer at 
religion, deriding holy men. He laughed at the Bible, 
made a sport at all things serious, always had an 



126 SERMONS 

answer of ribald wit when any earnest appeal was made 
to his heart, and one night went to a prayer-meeting 
just for amusement ; but that night God came to him 
through some simple words uttered by a poor brother, 
who spoke more wisely than he knew, and the talented 
infidel became a valiant Christian. 

One of the most careless and reckless men of this 
city heard, as he supposed, the voice of God at mid- 
night, rebuking his ways, and from that moment be- 
came a new man ; and afterward he called upon ail men 
everywhere to repent. 

One of our most earnest clergymen, now with God, 
was once a complete man of the world ; but one night 
he heard a young lady praying in an adjoining room, 
and most earnestly beseeching God to bless him and 
make him a holy man. And then that man, renewed 
by that invocation, gave himself up to God. 

Ah ! my friends, we might talk for weeks of just such 
cases, — of the wheel within the wheel, moved by the 
spirit of the Almighty, and legions drawn by the mys- 
terious power into the folds of the " Good Shepherd.'' 
So, too, often this wonderful, secret, and sublime 
power leads one to a serious review of the past life, 
and awakens to a deep regret the sensitive soul for 
the waste of years ; and one has sweetly written of just 
this state of mind, — a female poet * of considerable 
power, — and thus she speaks : — 

" Make haste, O soul, and gather up 
The hopes that once were thine, 
That shone across thy darkened way, 
Then, dark'ning, ceased to shine. 

* Clara B. Heath. 



THE STRANGE INTERMINGLING OF EVENTS 1 27 

" Gather the wishes, wise and good, 
You harbored day by day, 
And all the hindrances that stood 
And mocked them in the way. 

" Gather the fears that held thee close 
Locked in their cold embrace, 
When on the wings of faith you rose 
To struggle for a place. 

" How broad the outlook when we stand 
Above our hopes and fears ! 
How narrow all the ways we planned, 
Seen from the waste of years ! " 

Ah! my friends, the "waste of years" is now a sur- 
prise as we look back. Those years gone that we 
meant should be so grand, beautiful, true, and victo- 
rious, — gone out in smoke, and hardly a bright trace 
about them. God be merciful unto us, and yet help us 
to a better way. 

"As if a wheel had been within a wheel," so is the 
whole life of Christ "a wheel within a wheel," and all 
moving on to glory, honor, and immortality. Whether 
we consider the grand unfolding of the need of Christ 
from Genesis through Malachi, or his actual coming as 
set forth in the four Gospels, or his sublime life, or his 
splendid teachings, or his sufferings, so nobly met, or 
his death so grandly conquered, or his ascension, such 
a magnificent surprise, or his precious and perpetual 
presence, 'so beautifully revealed, it is all a wheel within 
a wheel, and each wheel stirred by angels and abun- 
dantly blessed by the dear Father and the mighty Re- 
deemer of us all ; and may we all to-day take firm 



128 SERMONS 

hold of duty and holiness in the name of the Father 
and the Son, and canopied forever by heavenly splen- 
dor ! For, after all, no matter what our experiences in 
life, behind, in, through, and above them all shines the 
glorious love of God. Saxe Holm has sweetly said : — 

" Like a cradle rocking, rocking, 
Silent, peaceful, to and fro, 
Like a mother's sweet looks dropping 
On the little face below, 
Hangs the green earth, swinging, turning, 
Jarless, noiseless, safe, and slow, 
Falls the light of God's face bending 
Down and watching us below. 

" And as feeble babes that suffer, 
Toss and cry, and will not rest, 
Are the ones the tender mother 
Holds the closest, loves the best, 
So when we are weak and wretched, 
By our sins weighed down, distressed, 
Then it is that God's great patience 
Holds us closest, loves us best. 

" O great heart of God, whose loving 
Cannot hindered be nor crossed, 
Will not weary, will not even 
In our death itself be lost, — 
Love divine ! Of such great loving 
Only mothers know the cost, — 
Cost of love, which, all love passing, 
Gave a Son to save the lost." 



XIII. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PRESENT 
HOUR. 

"Now is the accepted time." — 2 Cor. vi. 2. 

IN that little word " now " there is compressed a vast 
deal of sacred power, solemn suggestion, sooth- 
ing graces, and glorious inspiration, opening to the 
thoughtful mind a large field for penitence, resolution, 
comfort, and joy. 

We are all of us very apt to brood over those things 
that we have neglected to do, or else we make large 
boasts of what we intend to do at some future day ; but 
nearly all of us forget, or put out of sight, and seem to 
entirely ignore the vital fact that "now is the accepted 
time." 

No matter what we have been, nor need we be over- 
anxious about what we intend to become ; but let us ask 
ourselves what we are doing now toward our growth in 
grace, our real advance in holiness, our journey to the 
gate of heaven. And the importance of the present 
hour is the subject that I wish briefly to consider. 

This hour is of vital consequence because it is the 
only hour of which we are sure, the period alone in 
which all past life is condensed, and toward which all 



130 SERMONS 

past ages somewhat refer ; and it is the very moment 
when God is asking us for our immediate service, for 
the gracious, beautiful, triumphant, and holy surrender 
of our wills to His blessed will. 

Then, again, delays are dangerous. Procrastination 
is a disease. Power of will keeps slipping away ; and 
the longer we hold back from God, the more thoroughly 
will the road toward Him be hedged, clouded, and 
blockaded. Outside of the culture of the soul, too, in 
all business matters, and in all that relates to body or 
mind, the need of instant action is clearly indicated, at 
once recognized, and cordially and earnestly felt. 

Ah ! blessed be the present hour ; for it is the gift of 
God, and right royally has it descended from heaven, 
marked with our names, filled with glorious possibilities 
for our special use, fragrant with the sweet, holy, and 
pleasant benedictions of the good Father; watched by 
a band of angels, all of whom wish us well ; and full of 
the music of the celestial choir, who do what they can 
to make it beautiful, suggestive, and grand. And the 
time is all for us, and we may climb by its aid into 
mighty glory, and may surrender, by its solemn behest, 
all the weights that cling to us by the follies of the 
past, all the fogs that impede our steps exhaled by a 
previous inexperience, all the drawbacks of doubt, and 
all the darkness of despair. So, too, now we have an 
opportunity for a fresh start, the summons to a new 
hope, an appeal to our courage, faith, and love. How 
shall we greet the blessing ? With thankfulness, but 
inactivity ? with an acknowledgment of the grace, but a 
dismissal of its claims ? with a request for a renewed 



THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PRESENT HOUR 131 

advantage, but a spurning of the offered prize ? Shall 
we tell it to go, but to come again when we are less 
lazy, or less busy, or less impertinent, or less happy, or 
more modest, amiable, earnest, and true ? Shall we say 
that its visit is at present of no importance, and its 
prizes of no value ? We do not know with how much 
meaning the present is freighted. Our estimates are 
always too low or too high ; and we forget the grand 
intonations of God's voice, tingling all through the 
events that daily greet us. 

Mrs. Whitney has beautifully said : — 

" Little birds sit on the telegraph wires, 
And chitter, and flitter, and fold their wings : 
Maybe they think that for them and their sires 
Stretched always, on purpose, these wonderful strings ; 
And perhaps the thought that the world inspires 
Did plan for birds, among other things. 

" Little birds sit on the slender lines, 
And the news of the world runs under their feet ; 
Little things light on the lines of our lives, — 
Hopes and joys and acts of to-day, — 
And we think that for these the Lord contrives, 
Nor catch what the hidden lightnings say. 
Yet from end to end His meaning arrives, 
And His word runs underneath all the way." 

Yes, friends, we measure not present grandeur, the 
holy now, and this possible moment, but issue a draft 
on future days. But how do we know that time so 
despised will ever return ? How do we know that 
opportunities once so splendid, gracious, and inspired 
will ever be renewed ? Are we sure, also, that, should 



132 SERMONS 

another hour be given, equally freighted with the 
grandeur of heaven, and perhaps more so, — are we 
sure, perfectly sure, that we shall be on hand to grasp 
the treasure, or in the mind to understand it, or in the 
will to be moved by it ? Who has given us a certain 
mortgage on the future ? 

Ah ! the changes of life are so swift, the items of 
each minute are so uncertain, and life hangs so on a 
thread, that we can count on nothing but the very 
instant that we speak or act ; and even then there may 
be a check, a crash, and a close. The only time that 
belongs to anyone is now; and even that belongs to 
none but God, and should be used to His glory. My 
time is my own, does some one exclaim ? Ah, no ! 
my brother or my sister, not your own, and never so : 
only a loan, for the use of which you are ordered to 
pay a liberal interest, which will be charged faithfully 
to your account, in the great " Book of God " ; and, if 
you say that there is no interest to pay, or that you 
will pay it all in one mighty lump, next week, or next 
year, or just before you die, you are simply accumulat- 
ing a debt that will astonish your bewildered heart 
when all things shall be revealed. 

Again, this very time is deeply sacred because toward 
it run all the converging lines of our past life, and into it 
also the rivers of all ages. Do we say that Adam is 
the oldest man of which we know ? Well, by one reck- 
oning, we are correct; and yet by another estimate the 
last babe born — born a minute ago, perhaps — is the 
oldest of all, for all the past meets in him. And so 
to-day, all our life, and all of all lives before us, clamor 



THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PRESENT HOUR 133 

for recognition, as we consider the posture of our souls. 
It seems as if Adam, Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, all the 
worthies of the Old Dispensation, the apostles, mar- 
tyrs, heroes, and heroines of all times, were looking at 
us, pointing at us, urging us, and praying for us, that 
we may never forget that "now is the accepted time." 
So, too, your history, my friends, every part of it, from 
the time you took your first breath till this very second 
that you are reading these words, is bearing toward one 
end ; namely, your thorough reformation, without any 
delay, and an instant yielding of your will to the highest 
will of all. 

Ah ! it is impossible for us to take up the threads 
of common or of personal history, and to so tessellate 
them together that any one can easily detect how each 
event pointed to the restoration of human souls ; but, up 
there, in the Court of Heaven, we shall find the mys- 
tery all explained, cause and effect splendidly traced, 
and all things revealing the kind hand of Providence, 
that has so gloriously intersected every item of human 
experience. 

I think, when we read the Bible constantly under the 
feeling of its immediate personal and glorious reference 
to our own hearts, we get more richly down into its 
sacred depths of beauty, and feel thrilling all through 
us its magnificent intonations of peace, beauty, and 
power. Then Adam and Eve are tempted, or Joseph 
is sent into exile, or Cain kills Abel, or Noah builds an 
ark, or David sings his psalms in Palestine, or Daniel 
stands true to his God, or each and all meet their special 
discipline, all in some way for us, and all as a contribu- 



134 SERMONS 

tion to our better growth, and all that we may get closer 
to Heaven. 

So let us begin with our infancy and childhood, and 
trace along the events to the present hour, the gains 
and the slips, and see how everything tends to our 
immediate regeneration. So, too, to-day as never 
before is God asking us to be His children. More 
earnestly, lovingly, touchingly, if it were possible, than 
ever He has spoken, does He say, through the blessed 
Redeemer, "Come unto me." Not for anything that 
He may gain by the service does He speak, or for per- 
sonal joy or comfort or peace, but only for our own best 
good ; and the good Father wishes only our perfection. 
He would have us " to-day with Him in Paradise," 
because only as we try to make earth a Paradise do 
we secure our own real comfort; and He wants us to 
bend our wills to His will, but only because thus time 
and eternity will yield to us constantly the best fruits, 
and pour upon us the holiest gifts. Of course, the 
Infinite One must be happier when we are obedient, 
and must be grieved when we go astray ; but it is all 
for our sakes that He desires to keep us holy, and it 
is all for our sakes that nature is so beautiful, grace so 
abundant, and revelation so grand. 

What a profuse provision has been made for us poor 
mortals, and how all things call upon us to give our- 
selves up to the blessed King of kings ! We find by 
astronomy that the sun is ninety-five millions of miles 
distant from the earth, four hundred times farther than 
the moon, taking four hundred times and five-fourths 
of a second longer to send its light upon the earth than 



THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PRESENT HOUR 135 

the moon requires ; but to what does all this science 
amount, unless we learn by it that the spiritual light 
of God can travel billions of miles, if needed, to save 
one poor human soul ? So, too, if the planet Jupiter, 
at its greatest distance, is six times and a half farther 
from us than the sun, nearly six hundred and seventeen 
millions of miles, what matters it, unless we understand 
that He who launched Jupiter into space is close to us, 
and urging us at once to belong wholly to Him ? 

It is said, too, that we now see the light of a star 
that was extinguished four thousand years ago, but so 
far away that its first shining has but just reached us ; * 
but what of that, unless we remember that the rays of 
the Almighty have been shining from all eternity, and 
will shine forever and ever, upon all waiting, loving, 
and holy souls ? 

So, too, we are told that we do not see the sun as it 
now is, but as it was eight minutes before ; Jupiter as 
it was fifty-two minutes ; Uranus as it was more than 
two hours before ; the star in Centaur as it was three 
years ago ; Vega as it was nine and a quarter years 
ago ; and a star of the twelfth magnitude as it was four 
thousand years ago. But what care we, as long as the 
"Star of Bethlehem" shines fresh forever, and will 
always bless, revive, and glorify the watching eyes of 
the soul ? 

Hail to the wonders of science, but all hail to the 
wonders of God's glory ! And thanks to the Infinite 
One that nature joins revelation in inviting us to His 
holy presence, and in craving our instant, constant, and 
perfect obedience to His blessed will. 

* Stars of the twelfth magnitude. 



136 SERMONS 

Friends, delays are dangerous in all processes of the 
soul's growth, just as any improper delay in the move- 
ment of the spheres above would throw us all into dire 
consternation. He who promises to lead a better life 
to-morrow, by that very promise sends a consumption 
to his will, and palsies his better nature ; for he, of 
course, by his voice indorses the claims of God, while 
he postpones them indefinitely as something of no very 
pressing account. And what earthly friend would bear 
such an insult as that ? Suppose one should come to 
us this very evening, and should wish to communicate 
to us something that concerned us vitally, and which 
needed attention at once, but we, while allowing the 
importance of the subject, said that we would attend 
to it when we had time, or when we should see fit, or 
when we were old, or when we were sick, or just before 
we died. It is something we need now, our friend 
says, and proves what he says ; but we reply that we 
will not have it now, and not till we see fit so to do. 

Ah ! so we each and all treat God continually, and 
even those who try to do their best are somewhat 
guilty ; for all of us come short of our high mark, and 
may the Almighty pity, forgive, and help us. But how 
is it in our business matters, or in all that relates to 
the health of the body or the culture of the mind ? 
Are we apt to delay in these minor concerns ? When 
the merchant hears of a good bargain which to-day can 
be obtained, does he say that he will attend to the mat- 
ter in a few weeks ? And, if one has a good customer 
that wishes to purchase largely right away, does he 
refuse to attend to the sale, unless the purchaser is 



THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PRESENT HOUR 137 

willing to wait a few months or years ? Oh, we know 
better, for he feels at such times that there must be no 
delay ; and, if needed, he will work even late into the 
night, if thereby he can advance his plans. 

Again, if we have a consumption, or fever, or any 
severe sickness, is it usual for us to be perfectly easy, 
to refuse all medical aid, and to say that there is time 
enough for a cure when we get nearer to the grave ? 
No, no ! for action is taken at once, — physicians are 
summoned, all kinds of medicine are tried, and every 
human effort is summoned, that help may be gained; 
and not only, too, is the patient himself anxious, but all 
his friends are equally solicitous, energetic, and watch- 
ful, and everybody that loves him tries to cure him, and 
that right away. 

Once more. Does the teacher tell the pupil to do 
nothing but enjoy himself, to let books and study alone, 
and that a few years hence will do for the culture of 
the mind, but for the present that there is nothing to 
be done but to eat, drink, and be merry ? Ah ! we 
know better; for we know that every minute counts 
in a mental race, that no time can safely be lost, and 
that all gains are through constant, heavy, and hearty 
struggle. 

Just so are we to measure the laws that govern the 
soul ; and with equal good sense and sound judgment 
are we to judge of our growth toward heaven. 

"Now is the accepted time." God will accept us 
now, but He makes no promises in regard to the future ; 
and, unless we accept the invitation at the present hour, 
we make a great, fearful, and sad mistake. But who 



138 SERMONS 

is to go with us to introduce us to the great Father of 
all ? Who is to show us the way to the mansion where 
the feast is given ? and who is to tell us what to do, 
where to go, and all things needed for the new life that 
we propose to take ? We cannot go alone. Nobody 
as frail as ourselves can go with us to any avail ; but, 
thanks be to the good Father, He has sent us a Guide, 
Teacher, and an ever present Helper, even the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Saint Anatolius found his peace in Jesus ; 
and he once said, and so let us say : — 

" Fierce was the wild billow, 
Dark was the night, 
Oars labored heavily, 

Foam glimmered white, — 
Mariners trembled, 

Peril was nigh, 
Then saith the God of God, 
' Peace ! it is I.' 

" Ridge of the mountain wave, 
Lower thy crest. 
Wail of Euroclydon, 

Be thou at rest ! 
Peril can none be, 
Sorrow must fly, 
When saith the Light of Light, 
' Peace ! it is I.' 

"Jesus, Deliverer — 
Come thou to me. 
Soothe thou my voyaging 

Over life's sea. 
Thou, when the storm of death 

Roars, sweeping by, 
Whisper, O Truth of Truth, 
' Peace ! it is I. 



1 55 



XIV. 

MANNERS. 
"So was the king's manner." — Esther i. 13. 

MANNERS, whatever we may think concerning 
them, have a great deal to do with morals, and 
hence they are necessarily strongly allied with Chris- 
tianity ; but, when we speak of manners, we do not 
mean merely politeness, fashion, courtesy, good breed- 
ing, and refinement, although all of these are ingre- 
dients of the beautiful compound ; nor do we mean 
simply that one must be a gentleman or a lady, al- 
though this follows as a necessary result from the 
premises. But we mean a certain culture of the heart, 
that, like the old English ivy, climbs up into the head, 
folds itself about the voice, gathers around the hand, 
and overspreads the whole appearance ; and this culture, 
or refinement, or courtesy, or holy politeness, is the 
same in the house, street, and everywhere. If we have 
this inward vine, the seeds of which are planted by 
angels at God's command, we cannot help showing it ; 
and we shall not need to boast of it, nor too arrogantly 
assert it, nor display a great deal of pride concerning 
it, for then there will be clear proof that we have none 
of it, and then it will be vainly seen that we have mis- 



140 SERMONS 

taken the counterfeit for the real. A large number of 
human beings seem to have nothing of this glorious 
ivy about them, and they are just as rough as they 
can be all the time. Some have patches of it visible 
only occasionally, worn, perhaps, as a mask in public ; 
but ask a man's wife what he is, and ask a woman's 
husband what she is, and what will each one reply ? 

Let us look a little closely at this matter. What 
does the world demand of a man or a woman, that each 
may be labelled a gentleman or a lady? and then what 
is the Christian demand before such titles will be 
allowed ? The world says, Be dressed neatly, speak 
in gentle tones, never find fault with anybody before 
their face, always express pleasure at meeting those 
whom you greet, wear a smiling countenance, give 
everybody you know a courteous bow of recognition, 
strive to be entertaining to your visitors, and never 
express weariness, even if they outstay all reasonable 
time, or, in other words, be irresistibly pleasant at all 
public times in dress, voice, and conduct ; but be what 
you please when you are unobserved. But Christianity 
asks of us something different and a great deal more. 
It says, Always be honest, go no farther than you 
really feel. It insists that, although we are not obliged 
to wear our heart on our face, we must not reveal on 
our face what has no lodgement whatever in the heart. 
It maintains that everything must be charming about 
us, but it must be the fragrant vapor that leaps from 
the soul, genuine, hearty, and consecrated. It says 
we shall not say to those who call, "We are ever so 
glad to see you," when we mean that we are ever so 



MANNERS 141 

sorry. It says we must not say, " Do not go," when 
we mean, " Why in the world have you stayed so long ? " 
It asserts emphatically that we tell a falsehood when we 
write our " sincere regrets," all the time jubilant that 
we can by pompous rhetoric escape a serious infliction ; 
for it would crush all pretence, masquerade, and hollow 
insincerity at once, and yet it never advises anything 
harsh. There are plenty of words A coarse and rude 
in the English language that can be used that will not 
trench upon a prevarication, nor graze upon rudeness, 
nor be in any way offensive. If one comes to see us, 
whether welcome or unwelcome, cannot we honestly 
say, I hope you are in good health, and will not that 
be a sufficient greeting ? And when visitors leave, 
whether their stay be long or short, is it not better 
always to say, — that is, if they are friends, — "Come 
again," or to not friends, " Good-by," which means, 
God be with you ; and, when we would decline an invi- 
tation which we would not on any account accept, let 
us simply acknowledge the kind remembrance, for it 
was kind in even an enemy to ask us. There is al- 
ways a way of escaping difficulty without sending our 
poisoned venom into the human heart, and without 
throwing over our own souls the sable cloud of falsity. 
But Christianity goes much farther than regulating our 
outside manners when we are dealing with the world, 
for it would make us gentlemen or ladies all the time, 
in every spot where we happen to be ; and here we 
have to ring the home bell again, for it says to the 
husband, Speak kindly to your wife when in the house 
as well as when the ears of others are listening, and do 



142 SERMONS 

not think, it exclaims, that it is no matter now that 
the company dress is off. Ask a favor with deference, 
acknowledge one with great gratitude, and bestow one 
with a sweet kindness, and do not think that your posi- 
tion as husband abrogates all those duties of courtesy 
that you so cheerfully underwent and so willingly con- 
secrated when you were engaged to that beautiful girl 
whom then you thought the best being God ever made. 
Many a lovely girl, who had good reason to suppose 
that he whom of all she loved best was the model of 
gentleness, has found as a wife the dove suddenly 
transformed into something very different ; but Chris- 
tianity says, Be always the same. 

Again, wives are addressed, for the dealings of the 
new religion are not one-sided, and it was never said 
by that religion that one sex was always wrong, and 
the other ever right, — oh, no ! for duty runs its golden 
chains around all souls ; and to you, wives, it says, 
Speak as well to your husbands as you speak to your 
other friends ; temper your voice when alone to the 
same pitch as when in company; smile just as much 
when your front door is closed as when, the moment 
before, the parlor was full of company ; and strive quite 
as hard to please now as you did in those happy days 
when your heart was pledged. Be self-sacrificing, pa- 
tient, cheerful, pure, and full of religious trust, and 
then you are true ladies, you have earned that honored 
name, and it will be wreathed around your brow in 
diamond letters. Fathers and mothers, be polite to 
your children, let the little ones see that you respect 
as well as love them, and then you will bind them to 



MANNERS 143 

your heart with chains of gold. Say, "Thank you," if 
they do you a favor, and " Please," if you ask for one ; 
and let them see that you think a great deal of the 
dignity of their nature, and so lead them, by gracious 
steps, through the example of your own delicacy, into 
a most perfect refinement. And, children, politeness 
from you toward your parents is a duty that God en- 
joins, and from which you cannot without sin escape. 
Do not speak to your parents, and do not speak of 
them, except in the most respectful terms. And, 
brothers and sisters, do not presume upon your near 
relationship, as if it conferred a right for coarse man- 
ners. No such thing; and just as careful should you 
be of each other's tastes, just as generous to each 
other's failings, and just as considerate of each one's 
feelings as if you were dealing with a stranger. 

Christianity says that the true gentleman or the 
true lady will treat every man, every woman, and every 
child after the highest principles of honor, be he or she 
rich or poor, high or low, learned or ignorant, matured 
or infantile ; and here comes the enforcement of the 
recognition of the grandeur of human nature. How 
can we help treating well each one that comes across 
our path, when we know that each human being is a 
child of God, one sought by Jesus, one canopied by 
angels, a mortal drifting through time, and an immortal 
rising into eternity ? 

Certainly, our earthly policy is clearly marked out. 
We think it a very good rule here to treat with high 
consideration those whose kindred stand high, whose 
commercial power is large, and whose future promises 



144 SERMONS 

splendidly. A man, a woman, every child of God, has 
a diploma of claims, rights, honors, and each one has 
for kindred all the inhabitants of heaven, for property 
all the glories, comforts, and awards of the spirit and 
the word of God, and for future prospects, if faithful, 
an eternity of opportunity, progress, dazzling splendor, 
and magnificent work. Oh, I beseech you, treat, then, 
each one and every one well. 

Good manners, good morals, and a thorough Chris- 
tianity are one and the same thing ; and, in fact, man- 
ners and morals never blushed into their full beauty, 
nor ripened into their rich power, nor escaped into 
their splendid apocalypse, until the new revelation 
burst upon the earth. And our behavior is wholly 
wrong unless we are bathed in the teachings of 
Jesus Christ. 

Some may ask, Was not the great sinner, Chester- 
field of England, a perfect gentleman ? Yes, in one 
sense he was ; for he could make a good bow, enter 
a room handsomely, greet one with exquisite grace, 
talk, walk, and laugh in just the most taking way, and 
write exquisitely. But yet his inward emptiness, his 
hollow scepticism, and his tremendous nothingness 
made him only an automaton, a figure-head, and an 
image that was set to work on wheels ; and he had no 
gushing, burning, and loving heart. Undoubtedly, 
those near to him felt that, with all his refinement, he 
was an iceberg; but just add to his character the 
Christian glories, and then he would have swept all 
England with his power, while his name would have 
leaped down the centuries enthroned on the just ad- 
miration of reverent students. 



MANNERS 



*45 



Manners that are unallied to morals, unshackled to 
piety, and are careering through the world unde^ their 
own flag, will sooner or later meet with a defeat, and 
will swamp their victims in the depths of a most terrible 
mortification. We may perhaps be acquainted with 
some people who are, without any doubt, thorough 
Christians, but who are not entitled, according to 
human definitions, to the title of gentlemen or ladies ; 
and two divisions may be made of this class : first, 
those who are by nature rather rough in speech or 
blunt in manner ; and, second, those who, through the 
lack of a good education, fail to come up to the highest 
standard of a most thorough refinement. Some of our 
very best persons are sometimes those whose outside 
is somewhat harsh. They talk quickly, loudly, de- 
cidedly, and sharply ; but at the heart they are bubbling 
over with good will, and are filled with noble, splendid, 
rich, and unceasing plans for the good of the race. 

All through our life, we meet those to whom, if we 
were to judge them by the exterior alone, we would do 
great discredit ; for we should thus arrive at no idea of 
the wealth of their goodness, the largeness of their 
heart, and the holy electricity in their soul. While 
occasionally, among some of those whom we have the 
most distrusted, with great care avoided, and have 
wished all the time a thousand miles away, have been 
those who were charming in their personal appearance, 
with voices made of honey, with faces wreathed with 
smiles, and with good wishes as long as the moral law ; 
and yet have we felt afraid, uneasy, and a little scepti- 
cal in regard to their perfect sincerity. And many a 



146 SERMONS 

time have we seen a man or a woman toward whom 
our heart said, Hypocrite, while we had to put iron 
bands on our lips, lest they should say the same thing 
also. But some may say, How is it that the truly 
good man or thoroughly kind woman can be in any 
way rough ? Well, the difficulty is wholly one of 
organization ; and yet, after all, most people are not so 
severe as they seem to be. For, if we look closely, we 
shall detect a twinkle of love in the eye or see around 
the lines of the mouth a great good nature ; and may it 
not be that such are wearing a mask only that we may 
not know how good they are ? They make a mistake. 
They should let their light shine ; they should not hide 
it under a bushel ; and they ought not to wear a mask. 
However, we can much more easily forgive them than 
we can those whose outside is the dove, but whose 
inside is the serpent. I think we can all readily see 
that we do not quite understand the great grandeur of 
that title " gentleman," since we all shudder and seem 
to think it slightly irreverent when any one says that 
our dear Lord, during his earthly mission and when 
wearing the human garb, was a true, noble, finished, 
and holy gentleman. Why shudder ? Was he not on 
earth in his human nature a gentleman, — gentle in 
his looks, gentle in his speech, gentle in his teachings, 
gentle in his promises ? and did he not always know 
when to do just the right and just the appropriate 
thing ? Did he not respect everybody in their proper 
position ? And does it not seem an unquestioned truth 
that the more we copy him, so the more, continually 
the more, do we become lovely, attractive, and beauti- 



MANNERS I47 

ful to all with whom we meet ? Jesus not only came 
to make us ready to be saints in heaven, but he came 
quite as well to show us how to be useful and how to 
be agreeable here. If we are what we are ordered to 
be, "humble," "meek," full of "hunger and thirst for 
righteousness," "merciful," "pure in heart," "peace- 
makers," and "the salt of the earth," have we not 
every ingredient by which we can become the most 
beloved, honored, and accomplished, gentlemanly and 
ladylike people in the world ? The man of God has 
every preparation for becoming a man of the world ; 
that is, the world's most useful man. I am aware that 
many Christians, through a gross perversion of their 
faith, have led us to think somewhat differently. They 
certainly have dressed up their belief in the most 
sombre clothing, have pointed a finger of scorn at 
nearly all the innocent pleasures of the earth, have 
shut up the believer in a perfect framework of prohibi- 
tions, and have said, We must not go here nor there, 
but must sit still and wear iron collars on the neck, 
blinders on the eyes, put manacles on the hands, and 
bid all pleasure begone. 

Not so does the Bible teach ; not so does Almighty 
God direct, or Jesus Christ advise ; and not so does 
duty require. We are taught to love the world, and 
to so love it as to engirdle it in sweetness, bathe it in 
prayer, and scatter over it the flowers of affectionate 
service. We are sent here to have choice manners, 
sound morals, and a happy religion, so that, by our 
conversation, life, and all that we are, we may lead 
many to walk into the road that opens toward the holy 



148 SERMONS 

city ; and this is a call upon all of us, and God grant 
that all may heed it well. 

Let us look after our manners, for we must remember 
that they are the first cousins of morals. Let us look 
after our morals, for we must remember that they are 
the brothers and sisters of religion. And let us look 
after our religion, for we must remember that it is the 
handmaid of God. 



XV. 

THE DECAY OF THE SOUL. 

" Our lamps are gone out." — Matt. xxv. 8. 

YES, our lamps are gone out, or else they flicker or 
smoke or give but little light, or do not give all 
the light they should, while to a great degree, in the 
most important sense, — and that is the most sad reality 
of all, — the responsibility is ours. It is our own fault 
that the lamps inside the soul have gone out or have 
become feeble, or that they neglect to do their full, 
blessed, and holy work. 

I know all about the many excuses that are offered 
when spiritual failure takes place, such as the force of 
circumstances, the immature will, a defective education, 
the pinching stress of want, and so on, — a perfect pha- 
lanx of stereotyped apologies ; and yet I declare that 
all these obstacles, be they as weighty as they are, — 
nay, ten times heavier, sharper, and clearer, — will not 
balance one feather's weight against the opportunities, 
bounties, illuminations, graces, and sanctification that 
are offered, given, pressed, and almost forced upon each 
seeking soul by the watchful, loving, tender, and holy 
Jesus. We are never left unseen, unaided, and alone. 
In the boat of life there is always a pilot, and he will 



150 SERMONS 

turn our course heavenward just as soon as we sincerely 
beg him so to do ; and yet how prone the human heart 
is to brace itself up with a large number of excuses, 
which fact, after all, is perhaps the highest compliment 
that vice can pay to virtue, since the uneasiness which 
frames an apology is a tacit acknowledgment of the 
thing desired, neglected, and abused ! We do not take 
the trouble, nor do we spend the time, nor do we throw 
away our voice, in order to give excuses for the neglect 
of that which is of no consequence whatever, which is 
better undone than done ; and there is some hope for 
the man or the woman or the child who mumbles out 
a seeming plea of justification, for then we may be 
sure that underneath the heap of ashes which obscure 
the soul there are sparks mouldering, slumbering, rest- 
lessly sleeping, — sparks it may be all prepared to be 
started into a flame and perhaps ready for a happy 
conflagration, if only lighted up by the breath of the 
Holy Spirit. 

Glory be to God, there is hope for the uneasy, 
unhappy, restless spirit. The stirring waters prove 
that there is life left, and where there is life there is 
always hope, and when there is hope heaven looms in 
the distance ; and it is only when people become blocks 
of marble, pyramids of iron, and cakes of ice that we 
are inclined to give them up, for then there seems to 
be no real place for the proper impression of goodness, 
life, and peace. 

" Our lamps are gone out." With everybody, this is 
true, to a greater or to a less extent ; for we are not 
only not what we desired to be some years ago, in our 



THE DECAY OF THE SOUL 151 

bright, holy, and joyous dreams of coming days, but 
we are also, in some respects, terribly behind the spots 
of verdure that in our earlier years made the prospect 
of our lives so green, beautiful, and electric. For our 
innocence has gone ; and that instinctive throbbing 
toward good, which like the compass always pointed 
one way, has partially faded out, and has been some- 
what eclipsed in a maturity that smothers as well as 
ripens. 

If the children of innocence were always honor, holi- 
ness, and truth, it would be well ; but too often the 
offspring have to be labelled "sin," " shame," and 
"death." The boy of fifteen and the man of thirty are 
sometimes so vastly different that not only hardly a 
vestige of the youth is left on the frame of the man, 
but also in mind, in soul, and body are found no 
throbs, no echoes, and no impulses of earlier years. 

Good Father, save us from running down hill so 
fast ! Put brakes, we beseech Thee, on the car of the 
will, and by Thy omnipotence wrench us from the 
road that leads to death. How many there are upon 
the earth who want to begin their lives over again ! 
I do not agree with them ; for, whatever my spiritual 
defects may be now, I would not, on any account what- 
ever, begin the race again, through fear that I might 
do worse. And yet vast is the multitude who cry 
aloud or in the depths of the soul, Give us another 
chance ! and this bitter cry points to a sense of failure 
and to a feeling that existence has been down and not 
up, has been marshy and not solid, has been in the 
valley of humiliation and not on the topmost peak of 



152 SERMONS 

the highest mountain of duty. How many are there 
in the world who are perfectly satisfied with them- 
selves ? Not one, I think, is thoroughly content ; for 
we all know of a good many things that we might have 
performed better. We know of a great many more 
things that we should have let alone ; and we know 
also of a vast amount of duties that we have let slip 
through our hands, — duties that we cannot now run 
back and pick up. We began our lives with a vast 
amount of oil in our lamps ; but we have been gradually 
using it up, curtailing fearfully our supply, and neglect- 
ing all the time to get furnished with more material, 
so that now we only flicker, smoke, and twinkle, mak- 
ing but a faint impression upon the darkness all around 
us. We have lost something in power of will, in tone 
and color of imagination, in clearness of reason, in 
solidity of judgment, in depth of emotion, in purity of 
character, and in the whole posture of our religious 
growth. Let us look at this matter somewhat closely. 
The loss in will. We began our lives with a vast 
amount of splendid resolutions, sacred promises, and 
holy hopes, made to our buoyant imagination conse- 
crated vows placed upon the altar of the future ; and 
these pledges looked well as they were hung in their 
magnificent frame of faith upon the walls of our souls, 
and no one would have thought, in the freshness of 
their beauty, in the brilliant light of their immense 
worth, and in their glorious splendor, that they could 
ever know tarnish, or feel the wear of time, or be 
coaxed out of their regal glory. We promised well, 
thanks be to God even for that. But did not a change 



THE DECAY OF THE SOUL 1 53 

rapidly fall upon the spirit of our dreams, and did not 
temptation paint its blush upon our fair face, and send 
its cold tingle through our nerves ? and then soon, too 
soon, did we not lose our tinge of shame, and break 
fellowship with the noble standard that had been raised 
up by our splendid dreams ? We called the change, it 
may be, a becoming acquainted with the world ; but 
we should have called it a knocking at the door of the 
house of his Satanic majesty. 

Again, we have lost in the tone, color, and atmos- 
phere of the imagination. There is something very 
charming about the imagination at our early stage of 
maturer growth ; for greater paintings than Rubens or 
Raphael or Titian ever produced have been formed on 
the canvas of a youthful brain, and there have been 
dreams of majesty, goodness, and holiness that would 
have startled the world, could they only have blos- 
somed, bloomed, and blushed into reality, and the mil- 
lennium would have come long ago if we only could 
have made our best thoughts tingle in our deeds. 

Act out, young man and young woman, those grand 
ideas of duty that now seethe so furiously through your 
brain, and that almost make you wild with spiritual 
delight, and do not let them stay in the coffin of the 
flesh, but let them out, let them fly, let the chrysalis 
be broken, and then beauty, glory, and magnificence 
unparalleled will fall upon the earth, while up in the 
courts of heaven will be heard the hosannas of the 
angels ; but, if you keep them caged for any cause, on 
account of modesty or timidity or inexperience, then 
you will begin to lose power, the visions will grow dim, 



154 SERMONS 

and your "chambers of imagery" will be rilled with 
dust or with rust, so that nothing will be left but the 
ashes of the past. 

Again, we have become clouded in our reason. We 
know how to reason truthfully when we stand in the 
full tide of our best desires, when we spell good much 
easier than we spell bad, and when that the spiritual 
two and two makes four is no matter of doubt, and 
never falls into the lap of ingenious criticism and under 
the sifting of a metaphysical disputation ; but soon, 
however, unless we give heed to our early convictions, 
our way of seeing will get cloudy, we shall lose our 
logic, all our faculties will become bewitched, and we 
shall get tangled all up with doubts, covered all over 
with denials, and smothered all over with sin. How 
many wretched specimens can be found in this world 
of those whose reason is befouled and dethroned, of 
those who know not a spiritual a from a spiritual b, 
and of those who enthrone doubt for faith, and elevate 
their own empty guesses for realities most sacred ! 
May God have mercy upon such terrible foolishness ! 
Reason is good in its place ; and it has, too, a very 
important place, while, unless it is honored, obeyed, and 
unjostled in its right position, we shall soon all of us 
be buried up in self-conceit, and all the avenues of 
light, duty, and glory will be blocked up. But our 
reason must keep its hold on the battlements of 
heaven, must never forget its subordination to the 
Almighty Will, and must listen for the corrections, 
inspirations, and glorification of Almighty God. 

Again, our judgment grows weak. Every one is 



THE DECAY OF THE SOUL 1 55 

capable of having a good judgment, but how few pos- 
sess it ! Are we not hasty in decision, bribed by pre- 
judice, jostled by temper, and excited by self-interest 
to be on the wrong side ? 

Upon certain things we boldly assert that our mind 
is all made up. But how is it made up. Is it our 
mind, or is it our temper ? Is it our mind, or is it our 
purse ? Is it our mind, or is it our ambition ? Tell 
me, is it our mind or Satan's ? So, too, as we grow 
older, our emotions are apt to grow weaker. Ossifi- 
cation of the heart is a very common disease at the 
present time ; while it is sometimes brought about by 
undue rapidity of business, by fraudulent fluctuations 
of prices, by the many dubious shifts of trade, by pro- 
fuse dealing in stocks, by close dealing with notes, by 
hard driving with mortgages, and by several other pre- 
liminary steps well known to everybody. We in Bos- 
ton begin life very kindly disposed ; and we keep then 
an open hand, free heart, and generous soul. All in 
trouble obtain our real sympathy ; and we look about 
to see whom we can help, bless, and set forward. A 
change, however, is apt to come, caused by our fault 
or by the weakness or the wickedness of somebody 
else who has deceived us ; and then a coating of stone 
forms around the soul, so that the worthy and the un- 
worthy storm the inward walls in vain. We call such 
a hardening a knowledge of the world and a needed 
wisdom ; and so it is to a certain extent. But it is a 
one-sided acquaintance, a defective wisdom, and a 
rough experience, — just as if we should eat the skin 
of a peach, and call it a peach, and have no conception 



156 SERMONS 

of the lusciousness of the pulp that the peculiar skin 
so gladly conceals. 

Once more, purity of character is apt to suffer as 
we progress in life. Faces alter, and so do souls ; 
and oftentimes sin stains through the face, so that the 
countenance betokens what is going on in secret. We 
have known youths at sixteen who were the pattern 
of all that was lovely, and by merely gazing at 
them we were blessed ; but look at some of these 
same youths at thirty, and what a change! Not a 
feature can we trace like what we once admired and 
loved. Do you not remember the beautiful eye, full- 
orbed, large, clear as crystal, and beaming like a sun- 
beam ? Look now at that same eye, inflamed, swollen, 
sickly, and the sparkle all gone. I tell you guilt is 
stamped there. Do you not remember the smooth 
skin, glossy, fresh, and every way attractive ? But 
now the face is worn, pale, and hollow, or else it is 
too large for beauty, and very rough and repulsive. Do 
you not remember the expressive mouth, that seemed 
to have engraved on it religion, holiness, and everything 
good ? But now that mouth is out of shape, coarse, and 
deathlike. I forbear. You all know of such changes, 
and they are too sad to relate; and the heart aches as it 
recalls them. The lamps are almost extinguished, the 
soul is decaying, and it is dark, it is very dark ; but, oh, 
let us try, and let us see if we cannot get some oil for 
these unfortunate ones before the Bridegroom comes. 

In the whole posture of our religious life, we are 
apt to go back. I want to ask you, my brother and 
my sister, about your last ten years. Have you grown 



THE DECAY OF THE SOUL 157 

in that time, spiritually ? Are you nearer to God, 
Jesus, and heaven than you were at the beginning of 
the decade ? Is Sunday a day more and ever the 
more appreciated ? Is the Bible a book more and ever 
the more loved ? Is prayer a habit better and ever 
the better kept up ? And is duty closer and ever the 
closer followed, although the gain of the soul be the 
loss of the world ? Let us take our account of spir- 
itual stock, and then let us see on which side the 
balance lies ? I think it must be an awful feeling for 
one who finds himself ten years behindhand. I can 
imagine, in material matters, how sad the merchant 
must be, who, after casting up his whole account for 
twice five years, finds himself poorer than at the start. 
How he shivers at the idea, how he calls the whole 
time a waste, and how he bewails his ill luck, and how 
his whole nature is at unrest ! But, friends, I cannot 
imagine, neither your vision nor my thought can fully 
measure, the soul of that man who, as life struggles 
with death, finds that all the merchandise of his spirit- 
ual nature is but dross, all that seemed to be gold is 
but brass, that all he called diamond is paste, that 
the whole foundation labelled stone is sand, and that 
there is nothing left but a ruined life. What will that 
man say, when he sees the lamps all gone out, the oil 
used up, the shops all closed up, and the door about 
to be shut ? O God, have mercy on an experience 
so sad ! 

I suppose, if we had lived seventy years, and every 
day or week in those years had carelessly dropped a 
diamond, we should be a little curious, at the end of 



158 SERMONS 

that time, to know how much of a fortune we had 
thrown away ; and the natural feeling with those 
gazing at our prodigality would be that, notwith- 
standing we had lost so much, without doubt we had 
a vast supply in reserve. Friends, we have been drop- 
ping spiritual diamonds ever since we reached the age 
of responsibility ; while every one which we have lost 
has made us more poor, since we have had no stock in 
reserve which could be called inexhaustible. 

I presume that the head of a pin will be found more 
than three times too large to hold some souls that can 
be found in the world to-day ; and some may think that 
even this statement is too generous, and that we should 
reach the truth more closely by stating that some souls 
are so attenuated that the head of a pin would seem to 
such of giant size. 

" Our lamps are gone out." No, they are not wholly 
dead, for they never can wholly expire as long as there 
is a consciousness of loss ; for, just as long as we 
yearn for goodness, there is a chance for our restora- 
tion. Just when the desire for reform will cease none 
can say, and yet all the calls of religion are now : delay 
is ever spoken of as dangerous ; and it was once said, 
you know, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be 
required of thee." While Jesus stands at the door 
knocking, let us open, and, oh, we must not let the 
lamp go out. It is bad enough to have it smoke, it is 
very trying to see it flicker, yet better both than act- 
ual darkness. 

Jesus is ready to give "beauty for ashes, the oil of 
joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit 



THE DECAY OF THE SOUL 1 59 

of heaviness, that we may be called trees of righteous- 
ness, and the planting of the Lord"; and why should 
we delay to accept the magnificent gift ? How foolish 
it is in us that we let our light go out when it might 
flame up so high, sending a dazzling lustre even into 
heaven ! 

God grant that our souls may never begin to decay, 
but help us that they may grow more beautiful, bright, 
serene, and sacred, until they find their glorious apoca- 
lypse in the presence of the assembled angels at the 
" great white throne " ! 

God has helped us, saved us, and by His stripes as 
well as by His gifts has rebuked us, and all the days of 
our lives has been appealing to our better natures. 
Alice Williams has said : — 

" I know, dear God, 
These keen strokes of Thy rod 
Have turned me from deep mires 
I might have trod, 

" And often hath 
That which I deemed Thy wrath 
Been tender love to keep me 
In the path. 

"All chastisement 
Which by Thy hand is sent 
Is for my chastening, not 
For punishment. 

" Give me each hour 
Some token of Thy power, 
So shall the heart rejoice, 
Though storms should lower. 



l6o SERMONS 

" Thy presence still 
Goes with me. Good or ill, 
Whate'er befalls me, it is 
Thy good will. 

" Then in Thy way 
Still lead me day by day. 
Thy will be mine, mine Thine, 
Dear Lord, I pray." 



XVI. 



JESUS CHRIST THE TRUE FOUNDATION. 

" Other foundation can no man lay than Jesus Christ." — i Cor. 
iii. ii. 

AN ancient philosopher craved a basis for his lever 
somewhere outside of the earth ; and " then," he 
said, "he would lift the world." Now, the anxiety of 
this wise man that he might manage matter by getting 
outside of it, and his yearning for a foundation that 
was different from what he could make or see, or per- 
haps even dream with a clear conception, very well 
typifies the state of a thoughtful mind that surveys the 
ages and becomes shocked by the conflicts of opinions, 
the force of trifles, the authority clinging to mistakes, 
the wonderful confusion of ideas, and the slight, brittle, 
and decayed supports of existing customs that from 
year to year have received credit, admiration, and ap- 
plause. Outside of all these difficulties, prevarications, 
follies, and foibles, such a mind desires to stand, and 
longs to find a basis by which all seeming inconsist- 
encies may be lifted into clearness, made obedient to 
a critical management, and forced to give a spiritual 
nourishment, peace, strength, and joy. 

The mathematician of old longed in vain for a new 



162 SERMONS 

position for his lever, and he could not get out of 
matter until he got out of himself ; for the laws of his 
being confined him, and his very existence was a stern 
protest against his desires. But, thanks be to Al- 
mighty God, very different is the case of the Christian 
philosopher who, bewildered by a survey of history, 
overcome by the trifling circumstances of each day, 
and entangled by constant surprises, mortifications, and 
defeats, seeks some clew to events, some orderly ar- 
rangement of thought, and some independent force 
that can help explain the mystery of life ; for this man 
can reach an outside position, and can stand there out 
of all fog, raising by his spiritual, lifting power all 
difficulties into a blessed, holy, and triumphant light. 

We are here in this world, confused, unhappy, and 
sinful, feeling the weakness of ourselves and others, 
noticing the instability of all governments, persons, 
and things ; and so we crave relief, we want to up- 
heave doubt, difficulty, danger, and we know that, 
while we are in their circle, are bound by their laws, 
subject to their stings, and depressed by their restric- 
tions, we cannot escape into freedom, life, and power 
unless we can rest our spirit lever on a support inde- 
pendent of the world and its changes, and can place it 
on somebody or something, "the same yesterday, to-day, 
and forever." 

Jesus Christ supplies the power that we need, in 
order that we may master earthly thoughts, cares, 
pains. He is the foundation, and there is no other on 
which to build our present peace or our future hope ; 
and we wish to show in this discourse that ideas, action, 



JESUS CHRIST THE TRUE FOUNDATION 163 

and faith all gain their freshness, beauty, and eternity 
from the infusion into them of the Redeemer's spirit. 

Before the advent of Christ, ideas were shadowy, 
volatile, sensual, foolish, and only in a few cases pro- 
phetic, hopeful, and celestial. The Jews were a people 
of no great power, while they were small in numbers. 
Philosophers were scarce, and the large mass of the 
human race had lost all hope in themselves, each other, 
and God ; for they lived like beasts, met death stoically, 
frantically, stupidly, and had no time for thought, so 
that even the moments of light that will, despite prep- 
aration or resistance, gleam upon the darkest minds, 
were considered or labelled as illusive visions. And 
yet in all ages of the world there have been those 
who, notwithstanding their lack of the light of Chris- 
tianity, have spoken weighty words, cherished inspirit- 
ing thoughts, and been prophets full of hope, vigor, and 
celestial strength, and have, Socrates-like, despised life 
and death, but feared eternity. Even the Hebrews, 
who would not acknowledge the Saviour, devoutly wor- 
shipped God, and in many cases zealously advocated 
duty. Still, in these prophets or among these Hebrews, 
everywhere among men before the Christian era, we 
shall detect a void, a want, a yearning, and a lack of 
completion, by which a sadness is made to creep over 
their tones and dark clouds settle upon their lives ; 
for they all need the one great, sublime, and everlast- 
ing support, and they will lack full peace, sweet glory, 
and real splendor until they obtain it. 

Look at action before Christ, and then you will see 
that it has no basis, is filled with no unction, refers to 



164 SERMONS 

no great end, and springs from doubt, or difficulty, or 
pain ; that it is spasmodic, speculative, and hap-hazard ; 
that it is the child of inclination, and has no sacred 
affiliation to duty. 

In cases, too, where performance is noble, pure, 
blessed, and ornamental both to earth and heaven, 
courageous, honest, and sublime, in cases like the affec- 
tion of Damon with Pythias, that led each to wish to 
die for the other, or like the courage of Arnold Winkel- 
ried, that sacrified a body for the good of the people, 
or like the bravery of those few who have crowned 
Thermopylae's Pass forever, or like the deeds of all 
those who, not knowing Christ, have lived like him, — 
in these cases, such action, in all its grandeur, beauty, 
and power, must be attributed to the overflowings of 
a rich instinct, or to minds which, although denied the 
privilege of scaling heaven, have yet had natural vigor 
enough to fill the earth with a sweet greatness, spread- 
ing a holy fragrance throughout all time ; and such 
cases prove the splendid possibilities to which a God- 
given nature may reach when the Almighty shall see 
fit to open to such nature the gates of intuition, the 
full flood of inspiration, the whole grandeur, the mighty 
sublimity, and the sweet beauty of revelation. Such 
persons as we have named would convert the world if 
they only had the outside stand. 

Again, faith, without the light afforded to it by the 
coming of the Son of God, has no true existence, is 
chilled, wavering, and dull ; or if, in exceptional cases, 
it be very serene, brilliant, and splendid, those cases 
prove good the general rule, showing the need of a 



JESUS CHRIST THE TRUE FOUNDATION 1 6 



fresh communication from God, with an interpreter of 
the message. 

Of course, God has never neglected His children. 
From the beginning of our creation, He has in some 
way revealed Himself, and has written His awful, glo- 
rious, and paternal name on every beam of light, on 
every star in the firmament, on every drop of water, on 
every quiver of the electric fluid, and on every breath 
of the body ; but the race could not read the inscription 
plainly, gave different meanings to the letters, threw 
their explanations into perfect riddles, and in their 
very perplexity plainly revealed the need they had for 
a Teacher, for a Foundation, in whom to trust, and 
for a Prophet who should throw wide open the doors 
of the past, give a golden consecration to the pres- 
ent, and afford happy hints of the glories investing the 
future. 

Jesus Christ came into the world just at the period 
of its greatest want, just when the mind ached most for 
light, just when the heart of man was getting soaked 
in selfishness, just when all hope had become despair, 
all light had become darkness, and all prophecy seemed 
vain. What a change comes over the earth after this 
celestial visit ! for ideas are glorified, action becomes 
drained of its weakness and charged with a splen- 
did power, faith is no longer based on shadows, but 
stands unshaken and crowned ; everybody and every- 
thing assume a new shape, richer colors, and a greater 
magnificence ; all vapors are dried up, all horrors fade 
away, and all Satanic devices are baffled ; virtue no 
longer hides itself in a corner, patience is no longer 



l66 SERMONS 

ashamed of itself, goodness stands justified before the 
world, and heaven and earth seem to be united, while 
the distance between the two is not very great, so 
that the ascent from the one to the other becomes a 
charm, delight, and benediction. 

If Christ, then, brought so great a light into the 
world, and if without him everything was in chaos, and 
with him all sink to order, peace, and glory, what shall 
we say concerning the great question that has vexed 
so many scholars, for so long a time, concerning the 
ability or the disability of man ? For the consideration 
of this question comes just here, as we are sifting his- 
tory, and as we are getting its valuable testimony on 
this very point. We are nothing, in any way, say rev- 
erently one party, without Christ, and all our power, 
wisdom, and purity stream into us from him ; and all 
of us would have been utterly lost, physically, mentally, 
and spiritually, were it not for this power, instant or 
reflex, of the Son of God. And another party boldly 
say that they are shocked by these views ; that they 
deem them a satire upon God's government, a shameful 
abuse of God's child ; and they, sadly vibrating the other 
way, exclaim that man is everything of himself; that 
God has so made him that he needs no helper outside 
of his own resolutions, no Saviour but his own will, 
and no Redeemer in any sense whatever but his own 
right arm ; and they say that human greatness cannot 
be limited, and that a man's basis is within himself. 

To my mind, both these parties state an extreme 
truth, that, unbalanced by its opposite, borders upon an 
untruth ; for the fact rests midway between them. If 



JESUS CHRIST THE TRUE FOUNDATION 1 67 

we say that man is absolutely nothing, or if we say that 
man is absolutely everything, we blaspheme the Maker ; 
but, if we assert that man can do all things, through 
Christ helping him, we reach the strict truth. For 
then we allow that there is an original capacity, very 
great and holy, which needs only unfolding, educating, 
and glorifying ; and then we proclaim a bud that only 
calls for the air, sunshine, and rain, in order that the 
flower may be born. 

The true statement seems to be this : every one of 
us needs an educator ; but an educator would be of no 
avail if all his pupils were idiots, for he could accom- 
plish nothing without an original capacity on which 
to plant the seed. We are to remember that, as we 
enhance the dignity of our natures, as God has given 
those natures to us, so do we develop, step by step, 
the need of a Christ. It was because of the majesty 
of our souls that God gave us His Son ; and, had we 
been in nature or in character what some maintain, God 
would never have cared to help us, and we should have 
perished with the beasts. 

Those who proclaim themselves " demons " are as 
much in the wrong as those who label themselves 
" saints " ; and, if we were demons, salvation would be 
useless, and, if we were saints, it would be absurd. 
But if we were neither one nor the other, but half-way 
between the two, it would be just what we should 
crave, need, and must have. 

" Other foundation can no man lay than Jesus 
Christ." One of our great scholars, whose words at 
times seem like mighty lyrics, they are so full of 



1 68 SERMONS 

poetry, purity, and truth, but whose course of thought 
in many respects would meet with our stern dissent, 
published a book crowded full of wisdom, entitled 
" Representative Men " ; and in this book he speaks of 
Plato, Swedenborg, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Napo- 
leon, Goethe, and he well sketches the power of each, 
with the great debt the world owes to them. But let 
us substitute any one of these great men for our Foun- 
dation, and how brittle our support ! Plato, as a 
leader, might give to us grand conceptions of earth, 
clear ideas of truth, and suggestive facts, but he could 
afford no sure knowledge of heaven, and even his 
earth-laws had their stains ; and his great admirer 
remarks that, in one of his books on the Republic, 
he throws mathematical dust in our eyes, vitiating 
morality somewhat by undue privileges to governors. 
Therefore, from this philosopher we should receive 
theory, without basis ; abstract truth, but no girdle 
around it ; much knowledge, but all of it swathed with 
conjecture and fancy, and none of it uplifted or en- 
nobled or glorified by authority. Or, if we take Swe- 
denborg for a guide, we shall have a mystic to help 
us who has dreamed beautifully of heaven, who has 
sounded with his brilliant imagination the abyss, who 
by a keen spiritual insight has dissected correspond- 
ences, who loves truth, adores wisdom, and revels in 
holiness ; but yet, with all this advantage, we shall 
have no unshaken proofs of our leader's commission, 
and we shall see, hear, and read much that will 
make us doubt quite seriously the perpetuity of his 
teachings, while one eminent objection to him will be 



JESUS CHRIST THE TRUE FOUNDATION 1 69 

that he soars above the capacities of a majority of the 
people, so that one must be somewhat of a scholar, 
thinker, and mystic, in order to understand his 
doctrine. Or, if we take Montaigne, Shakespeare, 
Napoleon, Goethe, as leaders, we shall have a sceptic, 
or a poet, or a man of the world, or a writer to guide 
us. But scepticism will only throw us into a deeper 
fog, engirdling us in the meshes of our own conceit ; 
poetry will only enchant our fancy, taking the imagi- 
nation captive ; and worldly knowledge will only help 
us in that direction where we are already too wise ; 
and rhetoric will prove unsubstantial, however sug- 
gestive or brilliant it may appear, or in whatever be- 
witching garments it may be clothed. And all these 
leaders, taken together, can present no indorsement to 
their teachings of miracles wrought in their behalf, of 
lives in every respect unsullied, and of a constant, and 
an uninterrupted communication of the Holy Spirit. 

Only one Person has been presented to the world 
who combines philosophy, mysticism, scepticism, poe- 
try, worldly wisdom, and rhetorical power in his history, 
and who adds to all these gifts a perfect, glorified, and 
divine character ; and this person's philosophy meas- 
ures heaven as well as earth, and eternity as well as 
time, and man's heart with God's great heart ; and this 
Person's mysticism is no deception, but really beholds 
what is true, uncoils all twisted strands, and reveals 
what cannot be changed ; and this Person's scepticism 
relates only to sin, with its power or its eternity, and 
he does not believe that anybody or anything can over- 
throw God ; and this Person's poetry is of such a kind 



170 SERMONS 

as to make nature sing, and cause all souls to leap with 
joy ; and this Person's worldly wisdom is such that he 
gives his life for the good of all, and suffers and dies 
for the whole world ; and this Person's rhetoric is so 
given forth that it can never be consumed, but keeps 
growing in power, beauty, and freshness, a wonder to 
angels as well as to men. 

Yes, my Christian friends, this Person, the only 
Foundation, the true Support, and the glorious Basis 
for our lever, is Jesus Christ, the Shepherd, Bishop, and 
Redeemer of souls ! Glory be to his holy name ! 



XVII. 

DEATH IMPOSSIBLE. 

"Thou shalt not die." — Judges vi. 23. 

THERE is no such thing as death ; and the great- 
est mistake of our age, and of all ages, has been 
the very thought of the possibility of death, the admit- 
ting for a moment that anybody or anything could be 
destroyed, the inherent falsehood that says, He, or she, 
or it is dead. For, when God created the world, He 
shut out the possibility of decay; and the very name 
of God is life, and we dethrone our God the moment 
we allow of extinction. Change, transition, promotion, 
— anything, everything, except an end ! This is the 
great law of Christianity; and the word "eternity" is 
the logical condensation of the mighty truth. 

Nature changes all the time. Nations alter and 
seemingly disappear. We ourselves pass on, and up ; 
but nobody, nothing whatever, inevitably disappears. 
But, oh, how hard it is for us all to learn this com- 
fortable, uplifting, and sublime lesson ! The little 
boy or girl grows up to a man or a woman, and 
we say complainingly, We have lost our child ! 
No, no ! We have not lost our child. The child is 
there, with a fresh body and a matured soul. And 



172 SERMONS 

the man or woman grows into old age, and all 
previous life seems to be wiped out and lost. Oh, 
no ! not wiped out, not lost, but prolonged, ripened, 
illustrated. We have simply the boy or girl, or man 
or woman, further advanced, and acting on the stage 
of life with a new costume ; but the same actors, 
after all, are behind the dress. Then, again, these 
dear ones vanish from our sight, and we say, " They 
are gone, they are dead, they are no more : it is an 
irreparable loss." But they are not gone, — no more 
in the flesh, but alive with God; and they are not 
lost, but transplanted, glorified, crowned, and it may 
be right at our side after all, although unseen by mor- 
tal eyes. No more lost than was the boy or girl 
who became a man or woman, than was the man or 
woman in full vigor of life who became worn out by 
old age. They have only taken one step more. The 
old couplet has it, — 

11 Mortals cry, A man is dead : 
Angels cry, A child is born." 

One way of looking at it, it was death ; but another 
way of looking at the matter, the Christian way, it was 
birth. And so, ever and forever, not destruction, but 
creation. We stand looking at the form of a beloved 
one resting in its last enclosure, and it really seems at 
first like death. No light in the eye, no smile upon 
the face, no grasp of the hand, no motion ; a stillness, 
— oh, how still ! And yet the one whom we miss did 
we ever fully comprehend ? The light in the eye is 
gone ; but was it the light in the eye we loved, or be- 



DEATH IMPOSSIBLE 1 73 

hind the eye, shining through the eye, using the eye 
simply as a servant, a medium, and a transmitting 
power ? No smile on the face ? Yes ; but was the 
smile on the face, or did the face reflect the smile ? 
No grasp of the hand ? Yes ; but did the hand make 
the grasp, or a personality behind the hand that willed 
the salutation ? No motion ? Why, of course, no mo- 
tion ; for the motion was not in the body except by 
the order of the person that has left the body, and 
taken another and a better form, and given up the 
old form, that through its aid more life may come to 
the ground, trees, flowers, air, and everything. It is 
all life ; life given to nature, and a higher life gone 
to God, and nothing really lost, only changed, and 
changed for the better evermore ; and a benefaction 
to earth and heaven. And, in this way of looking at 
the matter, funeral services become salutations to 
heaven in behalf of the new-comers that are entering, 
one by one, into the City of our God ; and congratula- 
tions to Nature that all the time rich donations are 
poured into her treasury, by which the earth is per- 
petually renewed, enriched, and glorified. 

Nations alter and seemingly disappear; but are 
they really gone, or with us again in a new, better, 
and holier shape ? 

I believe that there has been a telephonic, tele- 
graphic, and electric influence, ever since the days of 
Adam to the present hour, by which all past history 
is present life, and every nation seemingly dead is 
living again in Asia, Africa, Europe, and America, 
so that the races of to-day are but the great-grand- 



174 SERMONS 

children of the races of the past, and you and I have 
something in our bones and blood of Egypt, Assyria, 
Babylonia, Judaea, Phoenicia, India, and Persia, so that 
nations never really die, but are changed, trans- 
mitted, reorganized, improved, by marriage, by birth, 
by intermingling of races, by time, by the grace of 
God, so that, in a certain philosophical sense, / am 
not only an American, but a Roman, a Grecian, a Per- 
sian, a part of everybody and everything that ever 
has been, and a part, by transmission, century after 
century, of everybody and everything that ever will 
be ; and thus there is an everlasting unity of flesh, 
and the unity of God and the unity of humanity 
are great and mighty and twin realities. 

Do not forget the prayer of Jesus, — that those that 
were his might be one with him, as he was one with 
God. 

Once more, Nature changes all the time. Yes ; 
but Nature never dies. Do those leaves that you 
tread under your feet on an October or November 
day perish ? Are they annihilated ? Is their work 
done, and is our farewell to them a finality ? Oh, 
no ! They will go into the hungry earth, and, through 
many changes, at last will fall into your hands in the 
shape of a luscious peach or rosy apple or juicy pear, 
or else as a violet or rosebud or japonica will bless 
your eyes, cheer your heart, and somehow spirit- 
ually say, " We do not die, we have never perished : 
we are blessing the world forever and ever ; and, 
like you, O mortals, we are immortal." 

I will admit, if the whole year were one long, pro- 



DEATH IMPOSSIBLE 1 75 

longed winter, we could not efface from our minds 
the thought of decay, destruction, and death ; but, 
when we have also spring, summer, and autumn, we 
at once see that there is no perishing, but a per- 
petual revival, change, resurrection, and glorification. 

"Thou shalt not die." What do our great writers 
and thinkers say about death ? Bryant exclaims, 
"Death is a deliverer." Beecher, "Dying is life." 
Hedge, " The death of this life will be birth into 
some new mode of being." Walter Scott: " Is death 
the last sleep ? No, it is the last final awaken- 
ing." Dr. Adam Clarke : " Death to a good man is 
but passing through a dark entry, out of one little 
dusky room of his Father's house into another that 
is fair and large, lightsome and glorious and divinely 
entertaining." And Goethe writes, " In the death of 
a good man, eternity is seen looking through time." 
But hear some of the words of Jesus Christ, our 
Lord and Master: "She is not dead but sleepeth." 
" I am the resurrection and the life." " In my 
Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a 
place for you." " God is not the God of the dead, 
but of the living." " To-day shalt thou be with me 
in paradise." 

Christian friends, I fear that our grasp of immor- 
tality is growing faint, through the pressure of our sor- 
rows, through the conflicting events of time, through 
the specious but brilliant objections of would-be phi- 
losophers, through our great anxiety to possess proofs 
for a future life, that cannot, from the nature of 
the case, be given to mortals, on account of our un- 



176 SERMONS 

spiritual lives, our dead faith, our cold hearts, our 
bodies and our crimes, because we are taken up too 
much with the things of time and the pleasures of 
this world. I fear, I repeat, that we are letting 
heaven go, that we are deifying time, that we are 
illogically writing mortal upon all the creations of 
God, that we are not studying nature aright, nor 
seriously searching into the real life of nations, nor 
reading aright the changes among mortals ; and thus, 
by superficial thinking, by idiotic guessing, and by a 
fatal delusion of the senses, we pretend to crown 
the grave as the end of all. But I tell you, each 
one, in the words that were written in the Book 
of Judges, — words that are confirmed by all the 
teachings of Christ, and words that are as true as 
God is true, — " Thou shalt not die." 

These thoughts seem to me to be appropriate for 
the first Sunday in November, a day that for ages 
has been set apart as " All Souls' Sunday," a day of 
commemoration for all those souls that have passed 
up to and are living with Almighty God. We all of 
us have dear ones watching us from the other side of 
the river ; and to-day let them come at our summons, 
in holy troops, to receive our salutations, — invisible, 
but real ; absent, but present ; removed, but pro- 
moted ; called dead on earth, called angels in 
heaven ; loving us better than ever before, caring 
for us more than they ever could in the flesh, praying 
for us all the time, and waiting to carry our souls up 
to the new home, when the bell of heaven rings and 
our names are selected ! All hail, beloved spirits, — all 
hail, now and forever ! 



XVIII. 

THE FALLEN STARS. 

" I saw a star fall from heaven." — Rev. ix. i. 

THE metaphorical language which we find so thickly 
scattered over the Bible, and with such profuse- 
ness imbedded in the Book of Revelation, cannot 
always be interpreted as it was meant to be under- 
stood in the day of its utterance, through a lack of 
accurate knowledge of the mind of the writer or 
speaker, or through the impossibility at this late day 
of our fully weighing the habits, peculiarities, and 
wants of those for whose welfare the figurative speech 
was uttered. The words were spoken for their own 
time ; and so it is no matter if we never again get at 
their first flavor, or become impregnated with their 
original fragrance, or need the early application of 
their fresh, glorious, and strongest power. And yet 
this kind of language has a lesson for us to-day, which 
is quite as suggestive as any ever offered. If we give 
such teaching merely a local habitation, a past history, 
and antique robes, we abstract from its dignity, cur- 
tail its power, and rudely sever the links that bind all 
ages in one, while we rashly break the connection that 



178 SERMONS 

earth holds so beautifully, sweetly, and sacredly with 
heaven. 

Again, if we read the Bible only as a local book, a 
finished revelation, and a wonderful relic of a past 
voice, we rob the present hour of its chief vitality, take 
away from the soul all its most powerful tuition, and 
throw a wet blanket over all the events that greet us 
day by day. We all want a word from God now ; 
something that will feed us to-day ; precepts, illustra- 
tions, metaphors, and doctrines that are adapted, con- 
secrated, and applied to the special wants, earnest crav- 
ings, and the loyal anticipations of this nineteenth 
century. Give us no Bible that must be called dead, 
that must be covered only by the dust of centuries, 
that cannot talk now, and that has no immediate, per- 
sonal, and blessed inspiration for this hour ; for we do 
not want such a book as that, but we want something 
both ancient and modern, — a record and a revelation, 
a register and a redemption, — something that no time 
can shackle and no locality bind, and something equally 
good for Jew or Gentile, for Roman or American, for 
Jerusalem or Boston. 

A star falling from heaven may be interpreted as 
something bright that leaps from its proper place, or 
may be used as the symbol of many things that are out 
of their true position, and as the type of many persons 
who are wandering, or who have wandered, or who will 
wander from their proper locality. It stands for broken 
plans, broken character, for virtue turned upside down, 
and for a world filled with riot, confusion, and shame. 
We hear of some one who has fallen from the path 



THE FALLEN STARS 1 79 

of right, one who is the last we should have suspected ; 
and we feel as if the heavens were not quite so secure, 
for a brilliant star is tarnished. We almost doubt 
our own souls, and we say, Who now is safe ? Is not 
everything going to ruin ? Are there such things as 
virtue, justice, honor, and holiness ? 

One who lives long upon the earth, however, soon 
learns to keep calm, steady, and unmoved, whatever 
may happen, clearly understanding that the timbers of 
morality, however much they may be shaken, torn, and 
abused, will never wholly give way. These troubles 
that startle us so much, no matter how great, are but 
ripples on the sea of time, spray upon the ocean of 
eternity, and a gleam of darkness upon the ever-shining 
sun; and they only leave a little cloud behind them 
that is soon lost in the cordial embrace of approaching 
waves of light. 

As we study history, we find, in each age, a large 
number of prominent men who for a long season gave 
a brilliant light, and then all at once became eclipsed 
by their sins, being struck from the celestial skies, — a 
Nero, Bacon, Arnold, and thousands of others who once 
stood fair, bright, and beautiful, but who now have be- 
come stained, shamed, and ruined. Is there any sight 
more sad than this ? It is opportunity clipped, virtue 
smothered, consummate grandeur scorched, and a pos- 
terity robbed of examples that might have been splen- 
didly luminous beyond all human estimate. Such men 
have struck a blow at humanity, and they stand un- 
-envied, in the niche of fame, as traitors to their race, 
aliens from God, and bad specimens of a discrowned 



l8o SERMONS 

mortality; and such. is the penalty of a high position 
misused, of a great trust betrayed, and of a grand pos- 
sibility disgraced. 

Again, great cities and countries that have become 
extinct are fallen stars, — Babylon, Nineveh, and Tyre, 
and others of like nature, which once led the world in 
beauty, culture, commerce, and force, but which now are 
lost in the ashes that serve as their mausoleum. No 
one could have foreseen their fate, because so stately, 
so magnificent, and so glorious did they appear, and 
right royal in their beauty ; and he would have been 
accounted a mad man who dared then to hint of decay, 
while, without doubt, his punishment would have been 
torture and death. For how could such wealth of 
scenery, such luxury of art, such profuseness of coin, 
and such rare acquisitions ever perish ? There those 
ancient powers stood, glittering, flashing, buoyant, de- 
fiant, and moving in triumphant career ; and the people 
see no danger, own no subjection, and claim imperish- 
able power, imperial sway. And yet they will soon be 
cut off in their course, quickly slip from their gravity, 
and erelong will be covered in oblivion, while all that 
we can say concerning them will be, Fallen, fallen f 
and the places that have known them shall know them 
no more forever, and strangers shall stand over their 
wrecks, telling the story of their greatness previous 
to their terrible decay. 

In each one's personal history, we discover that 
bright luminaries have fallen from their place ; for no 
one can look back upon a past life without detecting 
various periods when awful slips were made. How in- 



THE FALLEN STARS l8l 

nocent we once were ! What bright dreams of good- 
ness flitted athwart the brain, crowned the soul, and 
illuminated a possible future ! How we loved to climb 
into heaven by vision, sweeping with the eyes of faith 
through all the splendid scenery there ! How all our 
plans were for virtue, our promises for heaven, and all 
our resolutions were tinged, bathed, and scented with 
the glories of celestial holiness ! Ah ! " the spirit was 
willing, but the flesh was weak." We meant to do that 
which was right, but temptation came, then we turned 
aside to the evil way ; and probably there is not a 
person in the world at the age of twenty-one who has 
not lost somewhat of the freshness of early life, and we 
all moan over some good thing that we have too easily 
let go. Are we as truthful as we once were ? We all 
know how straightforward children are, and how even 
roughly sometimes they speak, that they may not evade 
truth ; but even allowing that we have more prudence, 
and that we know when to keep silent, have we not tres- 
passed considerably into the domain of falsehood, and 
have we not designedly and adroitly made the worse 
appear the better ? Are we honest in our dealings as 
we once were ? and is the golden rule now strictly 
obeyed, "Do unto others as ye would that others should 
do unto you " ? We once thought that prices should 
be the same for the ignorant man as they were for the 
shrewd customer, that the quality of our goods should 
be exactly as described, that the quantity delivered 
should be the same as ordered and the same as charged. 
Do we think that this is best now ? 

Again, are we as pure as we once were ? Is our 



182 SERMONS 

life as chaste as we dreamed it would be, when, in 
youthful days, we gazed into the dim future ? Let us 
weigh our deeds now, side by side with our convictions 
then, — do they balance ? Ah ! the firmament of our 
souls has become strangely darkened, and many of the 
brilliant lights that once studded it appear to have died 
out. Only here and there twinkles one little star, very 
lonely, very sad, and very obscure. Clouds and dark- 
ness are round about us, while a thick vapor has thrown 
its fearful shroud over our original beauty. 

Yet, my friends, all this we can remedy ; and these 
choice constellations of early days, now so disguised, 
can be made to shine with renewed glory, can once 
more proclaim their power, and can yet again blaze 
with gorgeous splendor. And Jesus came on purpose 
to tell us how to keep these starlike virtues in their 
orbit, how to call them back when they have wandered, 
and how to summon up their original splendor. He 
did not wish us to be freed from all temptation, that, 
merely by the absence of exposure, our innocence 
might be eternally fortified, and that all our goodness 
might be iron-clad, — no, not that ; but he endeavored 
to show us how to meet temptation, how to conquer 
it, how to take our innocence and to push it into virtue, 
and how to change a mere passive goodness into a de- 
cided, active, and glorious nobleness of character. 

Those who do well simply because they never have 
had the opportunity to do ill cannot yet be labelled as 
anything else but babes, and must be treated as those 
who have never emerged from their spiritual infancy. 
Christ came to teach us how to keep in our orbit, not 



THE FALLEN STARS I 83 

as did Adam and Eve in the Garden of Paradise before 
the fall, but how to keep straight under the booming shot 
of temptation, under the rattling of the whole artillery of 
Satan, and under every danger whatsoever. 

More than this also, thanks be to Almighty God, 
much more than this, Christ came to teach us, — how 
to get back to our true position when we had wan- 
dered from the right, how to conquer our slips so that 
they should not perpetually retard our progress, and 
how to stand up even after we had fallen terribly down. 
This is what I love to consider : this truth sends radi- 
ant hues over all my thoughts ; and this cheering fact 
bathes my whole future with a magnificence not to be 
described, that Jesus would not let me stay a lost star, 
unless my obstinate will should be determined to resist 
his gracious help, and should basely prefer to play 
the traitor all the time. He did not wish us to stay 
out in the cold ; and he laid all his plans, consecrated 
all his efforts, and gave his whole life, that he might 
win us to life, light, and peace. But how, — there is 
the great question, — how ? He gave us attractive 
pictures of God, our Maker, then offered sketches of 
heaven so brilliant in suggestiveness that the heart 
almost longs for its release as it examines them; and 
then he depicted the evil effects of sin on each one's 
soul and life, with the sure retributions that were to 
follow in its wake, both on earth and in the Celestial 
Land. Then, also, best argument of all, he gave us 
his life and death, pleading with us most eloquently by 
this holy exhibition of a sublime self-sacrifice. 

By these, and by other very beautiful, potent, and 



184 SERMONS 

splendid ways, he sought to lift us back again to our 
true position, to restore us to our royalty, and to re-cre- 
ate our souls. " I saw a star fall from heaven." Some 
of you may ask, Why should God permit this star to 
fall ? Could not He who made the heavens have kept 
the constellations in their place, and have saved from 
extinction those brilliant lights ? If He could only 
make them, but could never control them after they 
were born, where was His omnipotence? If He could 
only make them, and yet not know that they would 
rebel, where was His omniscience ? Or, in other words, 
why did God ever allow sin to attack the children of 
men ? — that old question that is ever new, and that 
will ever come up to trouble us ; for it has puzzled the 
human heart ever since the human heart was made, 
yet is not the answer really very plain ? Without free 
will, we should be machines ; but with it there must be 
the possibility of our going astray. God can and does 
prevent sin from injuring the world ultimately; but He 
cannot, consistently with the freedom of the human 
mind, stop a human being from going astray, if that 
human being so desires. And if the star will fall from 
heaven, why it must fall ; but God will prevent it from 
scorching the world, while God perhaps, in time, will so 
inflame it with His blessed love, pity, and grace that 
it will find again its place, regain its power, and shine 
once more in splendor. The very fact that we can be 
sinners proves the opposite truth, that we are able to 
be saints ; and so, too, we are all the better saints 
because we have stood over the abyss, have scented its 
tainted air, and have become a little dizzy by looking 



THE FALLEN STARS 185 

down, provided that we have only held fast our integ- 
rity, have always remembered our prayers, and have 
held tightly the outstretched hand of the Almighty. 
Our Master was tempted in all points like as we are, 
and yet without sin. 

I am not one of those who think that God made a 
mistake when He created us. I confess I do not know 
of any improvement that I can suggest. I should not 
dare to stand questioning the Infinite, I should be 
afraid to knock at heaven's door with loud complaints, 
and should say to myself, Who art thou, O clay, that 
would say to the Potter, What doest Thou ? Did not 
the holy writer state a truth, beyond all doubt, when 
he exclaimed, " We are made but little lower than the 
angels, and are clothed with glory and honor " ? Per- 
haps, when we were children, we said, or it may be 
now, in our childish moods, we say, Oh that we had 
been made angels ! Made angels ? Why, then, half of 
our joys would be cut off, and all the beauty of contrast 
we should lose ; for light is not half so light without its 
opposite, shadow. 

My friends, it is a great thing that we enter the 
world first mortal, for then immortality becomes worth 
something ; and it is a great thing that we are not tied 
to our orbits, and that we can swing off, if we are so 
foolish as to try. And this life of ours is sublime. 

"I saw a star fall from heaven." We should hardly 
be true to our souls, did we not consecrate these 
thoughts with a personal application. Are any of us 
lost stars, and do we feel to-day that we are struck off 
from the firmament of God's love ? Have our hopes 



l86 SERMONS 

of heaven departed, and is our view of life most dark ? 
Let us not despair, and let us not sink deeper and 
deeper earthward ; for there is yet hope, and a mighty 
hope, that a loving Father, if we earnestly wish it, will 
again kindle the mouldering ashes in our souls. There 
is hope that once more we shall be stirred up to fresh 
warmth, to beautiful brightness, and to a renewed life ; 
and there is hope, if we yearn for goodness, that the 
loving Jesus will take our hands in regal sympathy, 
while he will so press them that the stagnant blood will 
be quickened, the deadened pulse revived, and the stony 
heart re-created. And there is a certainty, if the ach- 
ing soul longs for peace, that the Holy Spirit will come 
with the sound of a rushing wind from heaven, and with 
Pentecostal tongues of flame, driving away and burning 
off all false ways, all wicked thoughts, and everything 
weak and doubtful about us. Lost stars, if any such 
read these words, if you are penitent, there is hope that 
you may be found, — found, too, reillumined, reinstated, 
and being permitted evermore to shine with a lustre 
that is past poor human speech to set forth. 

Nature works faithfully, shines all the time, as if to 
make up for the deficiency of man, and sends, on special 
occasions, extra lights for our comfort, joy, and wonder. 
Sometimes a comet goes rushing through the sky with 
a glory, splendor, and beauty which no words of ours 
can set forth. Sometimes auroral lights set a part of 
the heavens in a glorious blaze, giving us a foretaste 
of the radiance of the Celestial City ; and sometimes, 
too, at longer intervals between the generations of 
men, are granted us meteoric showers and heavenly 



THE FALLEN STARS 187 

fireworks, as if the angels were playing with rockets, 
or were throwing their fire-balls into the air, to show 
us how miserable are the pyrotechnics of earth when 
measured by the science and the skill of the inhabi- 
tants of the higher kingdom. They seem to toss stars 
up there in the skies in sport, throwing embryo worlds 
into the air, and setting the whole firmament in com- 
motion ; while we, poor tenants of the flesh, can only 
stand spell-bound, doubting, it may be, whether some 
of the sparks at such times may not coquet with our 
homes and take away our lives. Nature works grandly, 
nobly, and fearfully ; and may these celestial illumina- 
tions, whenever they come and wherever they appear, 
in the twinkling of stars or in the flashes of lightning, 
or in any lurid shape, be nothing to be compared with 
the pyrotechnic displays of goodness in our own souls. 
Oh, let there be in the inward citadel balls of generous 
fire rapidly shooting toward needy hearts, and there 
let the horizon be one blaze of goodness and a perfect 
meteoric shower of holy thoughts and noble deeds, so 
that celestial spirits gazing at us shall be wrapped in 
wonder, awe, and admiration ; and let not this show, 
like its earthly type, make but random visits, but let it 
become an established glory in our experience as long 
as the heavens and the earth endure. 

So God grant it may be with all His children ; and 
let us all go into the world, and preach the " gospel of 
peace" by heart, lip, and hand. 



XIX. 

THE RENEWING SPIRIT. 

"A new spirit within you." — Ezek. xi. 19. 

GOD'S words to Ezekiel grandly pointed to an hour 
of which perhaps that prophet had no very clear 
idea, a time when a new light was to fall upon the world ; 
for one of the blessed gifts to the earth, that always 
yields tokens of its grandeur, and cannot fail of its 
beautiful echo throughout time and eternity, was made 
when Christ came into the world, for, by his coming, 
a fresh spirit of power, love, and beauty entered into 
all hearts, and was ready to remain as an abiding guest, 
if greeted with a holy welcome. If we were to ex- 
amine all the renewals that were brought about by 
Christianity, eternity would be too short for a perfect 
revelation. So let us now look only at man's opinion 
of himself, at his judgment of events, glad or sad, at his 
measurement of woman, at his own change from dark- 
ness into marvellous light, and at his dreams about the 
end of life ; for, on all these points, I claim that there 
has been a tremendous change, a new spirit, and a 
complete revolution, when we compare the times before 
Christianity and the days ever since. When we strike 
out the certainty of immortality, when we erase the 



THE RENEWING SPIRIT 



goodness of God, when we deny the sanctity of the 
soul, when we impeach the possible grandeur of human 
nature, when we question the triumphs of virtue, and 
everything spiritual about us that is full of prophecy, 
inspiration, and splendid hope, and when we place our- 
selves simply on a level with the brute creation as 
beings limited to time, engirdled by chance, the sport 
of fate, and mortgaged to decay, why, then we get a 
logical view of a benighted heathen mind, where the 
best dreams are only a solemn, mournful, terrible, and 
pungent perhaps. 

Not long ago, I read for a second time, with a great 
deal of admiration, with a vast amount of surprise, and 
with considerable gratitude, some of the sayings of 
Marcus Antoninus, who was born in Rome in the year 
121, and became Emperor of Rome when he was forty 
years old ; and yet this great philosopher, this wonderful 
man, this splendid seer, this courageous moralist, this 
high-minded, clear-spirited, noble-hearted, and truly great 
philanthropist every little while gives a sly intimation 
of his doubts, exhibits an undertone of uncertainty, 
and fumbles along in the dark, as he thinks, speaks, and 
acts. Once he thus cries out : " Of human life the 
time is a point, and the substance is in a flux, and the 
perception is dull, and the composition of the whole 
body subject to putrefaction, and the soul a whirl, 
and fortune hard to divine, and fame a thing devoid of 
judgment. And, to say all in a word, everything which 
belongs to the body is a stream, and what belongs to 
the soul is a dream and vapor, and life is a warfare and 
a stranger's sojourn, and after fame is oblivion." Now, 



190 SERMONS 

this man, although born after Christ only a few years, 
mentions the Christians only once, and then speaks of 
them as a deluded sort of people, and was so far away 
from any contact with the new believers as never prob- 
ably to have given their system any deep, hearty, and 
honest study, so that he represents the highest type of 
a man without the new spirit. 

But look, by way of contrast, at some of the utter- 
ances of those who have been bathed in the Christian 
spirit. Giles exclaims, " Whenever I contemplate man 
in the actual world or the ideal, I am lost amidst the 
infinite multiformity of his life, but always end in 
wonder at the essential unity of his nature." And 
Chapin eloquently remarks : " Man was sent into the 
world to be a growing and exhaustless force. The 
world was spread out around him to be seized and 
conquered. Realms of infinite truth burst open above 
him, inviting him to tread those shining coasts along 
which Newton dropped his plummet, and Herschel 
sailed a Columbus of the skies." And Bulwer Lytton, 
"What is human is immortal." But do we speak of 
man's opinion of himself as it is to-day ? Well, can we 
better reach the solution of that question than by a 
personal appeal to our own souls in their best moments ? 
Let each one say come, Come, come, my soul, and tell 
me, as before God and these witnesses, what is thy 
judgment concerning thy privileges, thy rights, and thy 
providential appointments ? Is not the reply, I am 
made by God, I am capable of constant joy, I am or- 
dained for an eternal life, and I am surrounded, en- 
girdled, and sanctified continually by an appointed 



THE RENEWING SPIRIT 



I 9 I 



troop of angels ; my possibilities are unlimited, and my 
career, if I so will it, can be one splendid, holy, and 
grand triumph, and never can my identity be lost, nor 
become befogged, nor be questioned, and so God has 
ordered concerning all souls ? 

Look then, friends, at the contrast. Once, life was 
with all a perpetual uncertainty, a terrible darkness, a 
thin vapor, a mere chance, a decided materialism, ap- 
parently a grand haphazard and a mammoth mistake ; 
but now it is sacred design, holy forethought, blessed 
assurance, grand development, glorious perpetuity, mas- 
sive grandeur, and eternal gain, — that is as God orders 
it, and as we, by God's grace, can make it. 

Next look at the judgment of events with or with- 
out the great spirit and light and glory of the Master. 
Of course, in the times before our Lord, everything 
seemed to go by luck, or by favoritism of unknown 
deities, and all things moved along often without a 
guide and devoid of a purpose, so that incantation, 
superstition, sacrificial offerings, and all sorts of bribes 
were common, in order that the Fates might be pro- 
pitiated and ill fortune dismissed. You see, in the old 
tragedies, that one of the main features of the plays is 
the entrance of the avenging Furies, and oftentimes 
these Furies seem to have no good reason for their spite 
and their madness ; and they try to overwhelm in ruin 
multitudes of innocent persons, under the sweeping 
denunciation of the destiny of the house or tribe. 

Now, all this goes to prove that the untaught mind 
was afloat ail the time in its judgment of events, so 
that every day's items were but tangled skeins that no 



192 SERMONS 

mortal hands could possibly set right. But to-day, 
what ? Now everything falls into the groove of God's 
will. Now nothing can fall out of His correcting and 
transforming hand. Now all the webs have angel fin- 
gers,*" that are able to manage them and to set them 
straight, and every tangled thread is fastened to the 
throne of God, so that even the discordant notes of the 
great organ of life are set to the right music, and all the 
jars, in the end, perpetuate the glory of God ; and there 
can be no darkness without the revealing light of an 
eternal purpose of order, right, and righteousness. So, 
to-day, the believer can say, Whatever happens, God is 
there, God is love, God knows best, and He will in His 
own time straighten out all perplexity, smooth out all 
roughness, level all mountains, bridge all chasms, and 
sanctify everything somehow to the working out of his 
blessed will. 

Once more, all things are made right by the spirit of 
Jesus in regard to the position, the capabilities, and the 
destiny of woman. Ah ! sad was the state of the gen- 
tle sex till the shackles were broken by that new power 
in Palestine. Once, she was only a slave, a beast of 
burden and an outcast, with no will of her own, with no 
mind to be reverenced, no position and no rights, sub- 
ject to all abuse and insult, scourged without mercy for 
the least offence of look or word, and covered with pri- 
vations, cruelties, and dishonor. But, sisters in Christ, 
where are you now, and where will you be when we 
better learn your lofty nature, your grand possibilities, 
and are more firmly penetrated by your power for good- 
ness ? To-day the equal of man and more frequently 



THE RENEWING SPIRIT 193 

his superior, with mind sweeping all the corners of 
knowledge, — clear, sweet, and beautiful, — with a heart 
full of beaming peace, purity, and holiness, making 
known your true force, as servants of God, in the 
varied relations of daughter, sister, wife, and mother, 
and walking into all places of power, honor, culture, and 
responsibility, with a success that can never be ques- 
tioned. God be thanked that you are allowed to lift us 
poor men into the light, to show us the way of good- 
ness, and to give us bright examples of courage, truth- 
fulness, fidelity, honor, and holiness ! God be thanked 
for the true woman, for she stands constantly at the 
gate of heaven. 

Look then next at the man or the woman who, by 
the aid of the "new spirit," has leaped out of great 
darkness into marvellous light, old habits given up, old 
sins despised, old desires crushed, wicked companions 
let alone, — remorse, restoration, resolution, revolution, 
new birth, a new creature. Oh, what a change ! The 
eye, before so dull, is lighted up with the light of 
the Lord ; the face, before so flushed, now clean, fresh, 
healthy, and radiant ; the voice, once husky, thick, terri- 
bly disguised and trembling, now clear, bright, crisp, and 
pure ; the step, shaking with a forced decrepitude, now 
elastic, firm, proud, — the whole manner changed, a 
genial heart, a consecrated soul, a glorified life, and 
all old things put away. All these words will faintly 
describe the sinner turned into a saint, the prodigal 
running back to his father, the man of the world becom- 
ing a man of God, a disciple of Jesus, and crowned by 
the Spirit. 



194 SERMONS 

So, also, to-day our faith in the unending life is 
renewed by the power, grandeur, and beauty of the 
gospel. There was nothing sure concerning immortal- 
ity till Jesus came. The heathen sometimes dreamed 
it, the Jew continually longed for it ; but Christianity 
alone fulfilled it, brought immortality to light, and made 
it sure and grand and beautiful. Jesus said right out, 
" I am the resurrection and the life " ; for he was deter- 
mined there should be no doubt upon that point among 
those who believed in him. But what did they say 
before Jesus came? — Would that another life might 
be ! Will our darlings live again ? O God, give us 
back at some time these beloved ones ? Yes, such 
were the thoughts and the words of those who knew 
no other world, but craved it, wept for it, and agonized 
over it. 

But just hear to-day a few words of those who now 
know that they shall live again. Jeremy Taylor, that 
good old saint of the English Church, says, " I have 
often thought of death, and I find it the least of all 
evils." Franklin, the stern moralist, exclaims : " I look 
upon death to be as necessary to our constitution as 
sleep. We shall rise refreshed in the morning." Bai- 
ley, the author of "Festus," cries out : " Death, thou art 
infinite. It is life that is little." Beecher desires to 
have his body covered with flowers and his home filled 
with light. And Lowell, the poet, the ambassador, the 
scholar, writes, "Life is the jailer, death the angel sent 
to draw the unwilling bolts, and set us free." But 
enough of extract, although I do like occasionally to 
hear good people speak, and those of different times 



THE RENEWING SPIRIT 195 

and varied culture, when they strike their music on 
one string ; for all the sound is in harmony, although 
the touch may sometimes vary. 

"A new spirit within you." Ezekiel's words are 
well prophetic of the constant power of the Master. 
Ah, in sorrow, how Christ especially gives the new spirit 
to all those who cry out for the comforting bestowal ! 
A mother loses her child, so the old legend has it, and 
little May, lost on earth, but living with God, beholding 
her mother weeping, has the gates of heaven set ajar, 
so that the mourner can peer right through and see her 
daughter ; and thus it is described : — 

" 'Twas whispered one morning in heaven 
How the little child-angel May, 
In the shade of the great, white portal, 
Sat sorrowing night and day ; 
How she said to the stately warden, — 
He of the key and bar, — 
' O angel, sweet angel, I pray you, 
Set the beautiful gates ajar, — 
Only a little, I pray you, 
Set the beautiful gates ajar.' 

" ' I can hear my mother weeping, — 
She is lonely, she cannot see 
A glimmer of light in the darkness, 
Where the gates shut after me. 
Oh, turn me the key, sweet angel, 
The splendor will shine so far.' 
But the warden answered, ' I dare not 
Set the beautiful gates ajar.' 

" Then rose up Mary, the blessed, 
Sweet Mary, Mother of Christ, 
Her hand on the hand of the angel 
She laid, and her touch sufficed. 



196 SERMONS 

Turned was the key in the portal, 
Fell ringing the golden bar, 
And, lo ! in the little child's fingers 
Stood the beautiful gates ajar. 

" 'And this key, for further using, 
To my blessed Son shall be given,' 
Said Mary, Mother of Jesus, 
Tenderest heart in heaven. 
Now never a sad-eyed mother 
But may catch the glory afar, 
Since safe in the Lord Christ's bosom 
Are the keys of the gates ajar." 

So sweetly does this Italian hymn show us how Christ 
helps aching hearts, and how by trusting souls we get a 
glimpse of heaven, through the gates ajar. 

"The new spirit." Yes, dear friends, at all times do 
we especially need a new spirit. A fresh chance is 
offered continually for our promises of better service, 
and added hopes arise of a more blessed future that 
shall be found in our history, golden and beautiful, and 
richer faith is pressed upon us, as we march through 
the labyrinth of time, not knowing the end. And, lo ! 
Jesus is with us to take away our fear, to increase our 
courage, to make holy our steps, to sanctify our souls, 
and to give us a new spirit. Glory be to God ! 



XX. 

THE BURYING OF THE TALENT. 

"I was afraid, and . . . hid thy talent in the earth." — Matt. 
xxv. 25. 

EVERY one that enters the world is ordained from 
the very start to be great, good, useful, holy, 
God's child, the disciple of Jesus, and an heir of heaven ; 
and so every infant is a bundle of magnificent possibil- 
ities. I do not ask whether you begin life, mentally or 
spiritually, with one or with ten talents, for that is of 
no concern ; for you are born to do a mighty work, 
whatever your capacity, so that, if you develop your 
full powers, you will have no cause to be ashamed. 
The great question that will be asked in eternity will 
be, not how much of a hero or a heroine each soul has 
become, but, Is each soul complete, according to its 
power ? So God compares the performance with the 
ability, and looks not at the shining gifts ; for He 
simply asks about the vigor with which we have conse- 
crated our native powers, wants to know about the 
wealth of our efforts, and desires to weigh the grandeur, 
dignity, sweetness, and beauty that have glorified our 
self-discipline. We can all become distinguished if we 
so desire, for God has opened the path of greatness to 



198 SERMONS 

-every child that He has made ; and the weakest brother 
or sister by nature may become by grace the very leader 
of us all, for all things are easy to the heart that is wide 
open to God, Christ, and duty. 

Why is it, then, that so many fail to become what 
they ought to be ? What is it that chokes the preor- 
dained fruitfulness ? Why do we go right in the op- 
posite direction from the paths that are so clearly 
marked out ? Why do we hide our talent in the earth ? 
I suppose, first of all, that we are not fully conscious 
of our celestial prerogatives. We are educated wrongly 
at the very commencement of our lives. We are per- 
haps taught to look upon ourselves more as intrud- 
ers, or failures, or slaves, than as conquerors, kings, 
queens, and possible saints. We are told all the time 
that we must not do rather than about those things 
that God meant that we should do. Existence opens 
upon us blocked with restrictions rather than as paved 
with glories. So we grow up belittled ; and it is hard 
work for us to tear off the bandages of habit, of fear 
and restraint. 

Then, again, temporal matters are so pressing, ex- 
hausting, and comprehensive that we insensibly become 
hedged in and swamped by the mere foam, tinsel, and 
outside show of life ; and thus duty gets pushed away 
by inclination, pleasure obtains the master-hand over 
principle, and goodness also seems not only hard to 
obtain, but difficult to manage when possessed. We 
look upon duty as well enough, perhaps, but as irksome, 
gloomy, ill-timed, and as a sort of skeleton in the round 
of our daily performance. We do not care to be tied 



THE BURYING OF THE TALENT 199 

down to the imperious demands of right, not being 
clear in head enough to know that it is by the aid of 
right alone that we can obtain any real peace, happi- 
ness, and strength, and not understanding that the 
very worst kind of slavery is the slavery of sin. 

We have seen the difficulty : now what is the cure, 
and what will lead us to a complete change of character ? 
Call the change what you please, — conversion, growth, 
new birth, culture, self-direction, or everlasting consecra- 
tion, — what will hasten or establish one or all ? 

At first, all the children of God stand as perfect 
dwarfs in character, rude specimens of men and women, 
and undeveloped ; and how can they ever get out of this 
terrible, unfinished, and one-sided condition ? 

The first author of the good change in our characters 
is Almighty God; and all theologies are false that leave 
this great truth out of sight, every creed is corrupt that 
denies the fact. No man can personally lift himself to 
a higher position ; and that logic is weak, that preaching 
in vain, that opinion useless and sad, that, when speak- 
ing of the glory of manhood or the loveliness of woman- 
hood, or the beauty of childhood, forgets all about the 
omnipotence of God ! Strange that we should speak 
of what man can do, when we know very well that he 
can do nothing without permission. The first desire or 
the leading impulse to a better life is planted in every 
human breast by the Almighty; and every one has 
this celestial telegraph built up between the soul and 
heaven. 

There are many ways by which the Infinite holds 
communication with us ; and each peculiar disposition 



200 SERMONS 

is besieged as such disposition especially needs. This 
beautiful world in which we live is charged with mes- 
sages from above ; and, if we will only keep open eyes 
and open ears, we shall find a voice in every breath 
of wind, in every wave of light, and in all the chang- 
ing wonders of nature. But most clearly comes the 
quickening, the preventing, and the illuminating grace,, 
through the solemn grandeurs, the joyous splendors,, 
and the august glories of Revelation ; for there we find 
hints, prophecies, truths, and salutations that are suffi- 
cient to alarm the conscience, stir the will, brace the 
imagination, and consecrate the heart. God, then, 
being the first help toward our better spiritual condi- 
tion, the second help is man himself. We have some- 
thing to do about it, we have a great deal more to do 
with the work than we are apt to think ; and those that 
say that man has nothing to do about his conversion 
make just as wrong a statement as those who say he 
can do it all. And, if we hide our talent, bury it, and 
give it back just as we have received it, we shall be 
greeted with a merited rebuke. We must put our 
talent out to interest, we must increase its size, and 
we shall have to answer for its improvement ; for we 
are only trustees over property not our own. Call 
upon God and Christ as loudly as we will, and invoke 
the whole army of the saints, we shall receive no aid, 
if we sit still, if we fold our hands, if we go to sleep ; 
and sluggards will not find their names written down in 
the "Lamb's Book of Life." We must be wide-awake 
ourselves ; and our prayers and labors must be joined, 
must affectionately clasp hands, and must always be in 



THE BURYING OF THE TALENT 201 

cordial sympathy. If we really want to grow better, 
we must ask God to make us so ; and then, right away, 
in the twinkling of an eye, without the pause of a 
second, we must try, with all our might, to so conform 
to God's will that there shall be no question concern- 
ing our thorough sincerity. As one has said, we must 
work as if we could do it all, and we must pray as if 
we could do nothing ! Every one of us, however good 
we may be, might be better ; all are hiding continually 
some talent; and everybody is out of joint in some part 
of the character. 

We do not get sufficiently acquainted with our own 
hearts, we leave the formation of our characters too 
much to the wind and the tide, and we forget how 
everything, however trivial to us, goes toward the 
ennobling or the debasing of our souls. Supposing 
Washington had followed out the bent of his will, and 
had gone as midshipman in the English service instead 
of returning to his mother that he might save her heart 
from breaking, what a difference it would have made, 
not only in his own biography, but in the history of the 
world ! Supposing Webster had accepted a clerkship 
in a court, at the small salary that was offered, instead 
of running the greater risk of braving the world, what 
a change would have swept through his whole exist- 
ence, and how many of the records of our national 
history would have to be blotted out ! What would 
the apostle Paul ever have done for himself or for the 
world, if he had not listened to the higher call that 
greeted him on his way to Damascus ? 

Ah ! we have a great deal to do in the making of our 



202 SERMONS 

characters through the way in which we handle events 
as they daily and hourly greet us. Friends, we are 
surrounded continually by calls to do better ; and, if we 
refuse to obey, let us not labor under the miserable 
delusion that we can hide our talents. Would to God 
that we were able to do even this, and thus to smother 
a deadly influence ! But we cannot hide them ; and, 
if we do not make them work for us, they will work 
against us, for they must be either friends or enemies. 
They refuse to be neutral ; and they say emphatically 
to us, We will do you good or we will do you harm, just 
as you please ? And they are something like that 
manna that dropped from the heavens for the nour- 
ishment of the wandering Israelites ; for that manna 
had to be appropriated at once, or else it was changed 
from food into poison, and from a sweet savor into 
an offence. So with these talents, — if unappropriated, 
their nature becomes changed. 

The servant thought that he had buried his talent ; 
but he made a great mistake, poor fellow, for that talent 
had buried him, and he was covered all over with the 
rubbish of his neglect, the dust of his laziness, and 
the disgrace of his sin, and he was so benumbed that 
he was unaware that he was lost in a hideous pit. Let 
us remember that we can never stand still ; for we 
must move forward or backward, we must grow better 
or worse, and we are nearer to God or nearer to evil 
with every breath that we take. 

As we feel, then, how insecure all our lives are, and 
how full of responsibility each hour of our being, we 
are just in the condition to understand, receive, appre- 



THE BURYING OF THE TALENT 



203 



date, and rejoice in the claims, comforts, promises, and 
glories of the Christian Church ; for solitary would be 
our campaign without a leader, sad the conflict without 
a guide, and sure the defeat were no orders given, no 
pledges offered, and no weapons of defence furnished. 
Who, then, shall we choose for a commander, and into 
what company shall we enlist as privates, and what is 
it best for us to do ? 

If we look around among our fellow-men, we do not 
seem to get what we want ; for they are all likewise 
in the dark, are all equally encompassed with difficul- 
ties and pains, are all privates like ourselves, and are 
looking for some one to take them by the hand and 
lead them on to victory. What, then, is to be done ? 
Why, the way is clear, walk in it ; the door is opened, 
enter ; the Shepherd is at hand, notice him. Christ is 
all ready to lead us into the paths of righteousness, and 
is waiting simply for our willing service ; for he has 
been all over the ground himself, and knows just what 
to do, is thoroughly acquainted with our characters, 
is aware of just what we need, has seen the home 
that is finally to be ours, understands how to prepare 
us for it, and has never failed in any contest that he 
has undertaken. And what better champion than that 
could any of us select ? All that Jesus asks of us is 
to feel our need of him ; and our very state of abject 
want should powerfully stir up within our souls a sense 
of this mighty need. Look at his character and see 
what a perfect chant it was. All the notes in tune, 
and every note makes such beautiful music that even 
angels stoop to listen, and Almighty God Himself has 



204 SERMONS 

signified His delight. Look at his precepts, that are so 
abundant, pure, precious, fragrant, and everlasting ; and 
so everlastingly applicable to nature, inciting, exciting, 
comforting, consecrating, and redeeming all obedient 
souls. And how they engirdle, if rightly received, every 
experience with a benediction, and all eternity with a 
halo of glory ! Look at his sufferings, — how nobly 
met, how wisely transfigured, and how wonderfully sug- 
gestive ! Truly, we are safe with such a Commander ; 
and he will lead us, without doubt, if we are faithful 
disciples, into the regions of the blest. 

"I was afraid, and hid thy talent in the earth." I am 
very sorry that fear has had so much to do with all the 
religions of the world, and I cannot think that any 
worship is a healthy worship which is born out of dread ; 
for, if we serve only under compulsion, our service is 
indeed barren, juiceless, and hard. A cringing child is 
a most pitiable sight ; and, if so to human eyes, how 
much more so must it be in the eyes of the Eternal 
One ! It appears to me that the more we get of Christ's 
spirit, the more will the spirit of fear melt into the 
spirit of trust ; for we know that perfect trust will cast 
out all fear. We must love God so well that we shall 
do as he bids joyfully ; and then will our existence be 
robed in splendor, the future will be clothed in a garb 
of diamond brightness, and our whole time will be 
taken up in trying to do something that shall please 
Heaven. Dear friends, am I anticipating too much ? 
and are we yet so low down in the scale of humanity 
that we must be driven, and not won ? And can we 
understand nothing but blows ? I will not do any one 



THE BURYING OF THE TALENT 205 

that great discredit, for I know better; and I feel that 
we all want to lean upon God's heart, want to press 
His hand, want to feel that we are His beloved children, 
long for His tender, beautiful, and comforting accept- 
ance, and crave His joyous consecration, hoping at 
some time to become jewels in His crown. What, then, 
is to hinder us from being all that we wish ? For every- 
thing is ready, we are invited, the table is spread, the 
guests are gathering, all things look gorgeously attrac- 
tive ; and why shall we not go to the festival ? Oh, 
may God grant that no seat may be vacant at the great 
spiritual feast of Himself and His Son ! 

But let us come down to plainer terms. We must 
use our talents, and all of them, in the best way, and 
consecrate them to the highest purposes, and make 
them pay compound interest ; and then, when the day 
of reckoning shall come, we shall have an account to 
give of our stewardship, that will make all the bells of 
heaven ring with joy. So may it be, Almighty God ! 



XXI. 

GOD A SPIRIT. 

" God is a Spirit." — John iv. 24. 

IN all ages there have been different conceptions of 
God, and in each age no two persons have thought 
alike about Him ; and this is true, whether the idea of 
the Supreme be merely a figment of the brain or a 
direct revelation from on high. For a revelation from 
above does not always greet the same capacity, and 
must become moulded, tinged, and strengthened or 
weakened, according to the state of mind and tone of 
heart to which it is addressed and in which it takes up 
its abode. 

No two human beings can grasp the same truth alike 
for all see varying sides of it, and the sides, too, that are 
most adapted to prearranged ideas, settled feelings, and 
rooted prejudices ; and so it is not in the least strange 
that our theologies differ, for it would be very strange 
if they did not differ, and it is now very singular that 
they agree so well. And yet, when we place all the 
myriad conceptions concerning the Father together and 
make a mosaic of them, we shall be surprised to see 
how well they coincide, and what a beautiful, sublime, 
holy, and comforting picture they surely make. 



GOD A SPIRIT 



207 



God has been called Power, Wisdom, Love, Fate, and 
Nature, according as the heart has trembled under a 
sense of nothingness, or has reeled under the weight of 
its ignorance, or has ached through the crushing sen- 
sation of loneliness, or has been tossed on unexplored 
seas, or has been lost in vague wonder at the uniformity 
of inflexible laws. The disciples who see God as mani- 
fested in either of these ways, at first sight, seem to be 
widely apart in thought and feeling, are often rude 
antagonists, certainly govern their lives from different 
motives, and have standards of judgment and action 
entirely at variance with their oponents ; and yet, really, 
these disciples of the varied schools are not so widely 
apart from the truth in their definitions as they seem, 
or else they could never survive as a party. God 
blends in His character, purposes, designs, government, 
and in His daily and eternal administration, all the 
names, all the parties, and all the definitions in one. 

God is power. Who doubts this fact, as he notices 
the swing of the world, the play of the planets, and the 
conflicting elements ? and who doubts it, as he hears of 
tornadoes, earthquakes, and volcanoes, terrific storms, 
and all the convulsions of the earth ? And must we 
not all believe it, as we see the vast procession of the 
dead in a solid phalanx, each hour, mount upward ? 

God is wisdom. Who doubts it, as he scans the 
mechanism of a leaf and dissects the composition of a 
star ? Do you not believe it, as you gaze at a tribe of 
ants, busy at their work, or at a swarm of bees around 
their hive, or at a troop of insects forming their coral 
island in the sea ? Or must we not all confess the fact, 



208 SERMONS 

as we turn from these outside scenes of wondrous 
mechanism to a survey of our own frames, contemplat- 
ing the keen knowledge that must have created them 
so wonderfully and so grandly? 

God is love. Who doubts it, that ever tries to count 
the mercies that surround each created being, the 
glories that bathe the sight of us all, and the thousand 
and the ten thousand possibilities of joy that hover 
around those who tabernacle the flesh ? 

God is fate. That is, He is the ordainer of our fate ; 
and who can question this, when the impotency of 
humanity is so glaring, and when all merely human 
efforts seem so empty and vain ? 

God is nature. That is, He is in nature, pervades it, 
glorifies it, fills it with benedictions, charges it with 
lessons, surrounds it with angelic powers, and makes it 
the administrator of His blessed will. 

Let us mention here the humanitarian view of God, 
which has prevailed more or less throughout all the 
centuries, and of which glimpses are seen in Genesis, 
where the Lord God is described as walking among the 
trees, — a view that art has somewhat encouraged, and 
which perhaps, faintly or firmly, takes possession of 
all minds at some seasons of thinking. The heathen 
get over being troubled by this human want by making 
a God of stone or of wood, that they can see with their 
eyes ; and so the Christian satisfies the deep yearning 
for a material God by seeing in Jesus Christ a perfect 
image of the Father. All created beings want, not 
only a God invisible, but visible, — visible, too, not only 
through the working of attributes, but as a distinct 



GOD A SPIRIT 209 

Being in whom all these attributes can gloriously coa- 
lesce. If the Bible be true, we have every reason to 
believe that God has some kind of a form. Cur text 
says, "God is a Spirit" ; but it does not say He is an 
unclothed spirit, it does not deny His separate Being, 
and it does not assert a number of powers and affec- 
tions, but no personality. But it leaves the whole 
matter, where it should be left, wholly unexplained. 

God is a spirit. So are we all spirits, but we are 
spirits covered by flesh ; and these bodies are not our- 
selves, but they are simply our clothing, while death is 
only the disrobing of the spirit from its fleshly garments, 
the spirit form being left all untouched, the " us " being 
uninjured, and there being simply a release from a 
prison house of clay, but still a glorified spiritual body 
safe with God. 

As we understand very well that it is not our flesh 
that thinks, talks, and acts, but the spirit that does all 
these things, the spirit underneath the earthly body 
and controlling it, so does it become easier for us to 
comprehend God as a spirit, and, in fact, we cannot 
well, for any length of time, contemplate God in any 
other way ; for, if we clothed him, like ourselves, in 
garments of clay, we should at once fear that he might 
be subjected to limitations like ourselves, especially as 
we know that Jesus Christ, when in the earthly body, 
was bound to its laws and subject to its exposures. 
But some may say that we are discussing about a sub- 
ject concerning which no definite information can be 
obtained, and of which we can only learn a little while 
we remain on the earth, while that little rests under 



2IO SERMONS 

a cloud ; and men may say that on this account it is 
better to let the whole question concerning God's 
nature alone, waiting until it is revealed to each one 
after death. And men may think that it is enough for 
us to know that there is a God, while any further 
knowledge is purposely kept back, so that, if we try 
to pull aside the veil, we shall be involved in trouble 
and covered with dismay. 

To a certain extent, these objections border upon 
the truth ; for it is not well for us to be too curious. 
It will not do for us, in the insolence of our would-be 
wisdom, to invade the sanctities of God's mysteries ;. 
and in many things it becomes us to be reverently 
silent, for we must put a firm check upon the myriad 
dreams of the brain. And yet there are a great many 
things which we are asked to search out, and of which, 
in accordance with the thoroughness of our seeking, is 
promised the explanation, and a knowledge of which is 
needed and must be secured for the right upbuilding 
of our religious lives. I maintain that a modest in- 
quiry into the name and nature of God is one of those 
things required of every created being ; and the human 
race once so misunderstood the Maker of heaven and 
earth that Jesus came to earth especially to reveal 
Him. As we examine the Gospels, we shall see differ- 
ent definitions given to the Eternal One, so that by 
all minds some idea concerning him might be gained. 
Phrases like these constantly occur : " There is none 
good but One, that is God"; " There is one God, and 
no other " ; " Not one is forgotten before God " ; " God 
"living God"; "With God all things are 



GOD A SPIRIT 211 

possible " ; " my God and your God " ; " God is love " ; 
"our Father"; "God is a Spirit." Friends, one's con- 
ception of God is a very good index of that person's 
character. One who looks upon the heavenly Father 
as close at hand, weighing every thought, gazing at 
every impulse, scanning each deed, and enriching 
every second of life, as One from whom nothing can be 
hid, and toward whom there can be no evasion, — such 
a one, who feels God in the beating of the pulse and 
in each breath drawn from birth to death, must be a 
different being, and must behave very differently from 
the one who believes that the Creator has nothing 
especially to do with humanity, no particular care for 
anybody, and simply lets us alone under the govern- 
ment of laws as old as creation, that were once wound 
up and never need to be noticed again. 

So, also, one who looks upon God as a tyrant must 
govern daily conduct very differently from the one 
who looks upon him as the personification of all good- 
ness. Let us look at each person that we know ; and 
can we not find out by scanning the life closely just 
what such a person thinks of God ? Is he or she hard- 
hearted, exacting, censorious, asking no favors, and 
granting none ? And is he or she all ice and all iron ? 
And do you avoid that man or woman when you can, 
and always meet that person with dread and with 
shame ? Then the Maker that such worship is strict 
justice, unstreaked with mercy, — a Being demanding 
the payment of the uttermost farthing, and One who 
has no ear for penitence and no heart for pardon. 
Again, is the person that you know liberal in mind, 



212 SERMONS 

generous in construction, free in charities ? Does he 
or she always look on the bright side ? Is he or she 
more willing to excuse than to blame, and continually 
full of sunbeams that make all within reach overflow- 
ing with hearty joy and a holy delight ? Is he or she 
one whom everybody loves, and who loves everybody ? 
Then the Maker of such a person must be a glorious 
Being, and must blend in His character all attractive 
qualities, such as win a way to the hearts of all people 
by their beautiful sweetness, sacred effulgence, and 
glorious majesty. 

Yes : what we believe concerning God, Christ, and 
heaven, is very apt to be graven upon our daily lives ; 
and I have sometimes thought we could see one's creed 
written upon the face, — at least we can often detect in 
this way whether the views are catholic or cramped, 
whether a person lives to enlarge the race or to enlarge 
self, whether such a person worships from love or from 
fear, and whether the future is all a paradise or all a 
prison. I can tell what sort of a God you worship, my 
brother and sister, after spending a day in your house 
or a day at your place of business, after weighing your 
home intercourse and your world intercourse, and after 
thoroughly searching your twenty-four hours' conversa- 
tion and deeds ; and during that time I would like to 
see you in sorrow as well as in joy, under provocation 
as well as under benediction, engirdled by strong temp- 
tations, and placed within the arena of a sharp spiritual 
conflict. Are you unmoved ? Does your eye glisten 
with faith ? Is your heart lustrous with devotion ? Is 
your action calm, your voice sweet, and your self-corn- 



GOD A SPIRIT 213 

mand thorough ? And do you march by the shoals and 
by the quicksands in your path with a noiseless, un- 
shaken, and unterrified tread ? Then your Creator is 
your Father, Friend, full of light ineffable, attractive 
in His character, and worthy of the deepest and holiest 
adoration. But are you uneasy, petulant, perverse, and 
inclined to yield to the pressure of evil for the sake 
of the gain, unforbearing, selfish, savage, full of com- 
plaint, madness, and profanity, entirely off your balance, 
and divorced from your manhood or womanhood ? 
Why, then, the Maker you worship is probably a tyrant, 
and one we should all like to avoid. 

Christian friends, although God is " the same yester- 
day, to-day, and forever," to each heart and to each 
mind He is, while we tenant the flesh, what each mind 
and heart make Him. Hence, while there is but one 
God, and He is one all good, yet each one has his own 
God ; and, oh, what short-sighted creatures we are in 
our descriptions of Him, as one says, — 

" From whom we spring, to whom we tend, 
Path, Motive, Original, and End " ! 

The good Father, knowing how each mind would 
shape its own Maker and each heart make its own God, 
and unwilling to leave us entirely in the dark concern- 
ing Himself, sent to us, for our gaze and study, an 
image of Himself, a photograph of His character, and 
a representation of His attributes that we could under- 
stand. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who is Immanuel, 
which, being interpreted, is " God with us." Jesus 
says, — we all remember the glorious words, — " If ye 



214 SERMONS 

had known me, ye would have known my Father also ; 
and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him." 
Philip saith unto him, " Lord, show us the Father, and 
it sufficeth us." Jesus saith unto him, "Have I been 
so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known 
me, Philip ? " " He that hath seen me hath seen the 
Father. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, 
and the Father in me ? " 

Therefore, friends, let us be no longer troubled as to 
the character of God, no longer complain of the mys- 
teries that gather around His throne, and no longer 
plead ignorance concerning Him ; but study into the 
life, search into the spirit, and look lovingly upon 
the precepts of Jesus Christ, and then we shall find the 
Father, learn His will concerning us, and our fear will 
be changed into love, the mist around our head and 
heart will melt into light, our doubts will be all cleared 
away, and the relations of the Creator to the created 
will be very beautifully, grandly, and clearly unfolded. 



XXII. 

LONELINESS. 
" I am left alone." — Rom. xi. 3. 

EVERY true person needs to be sometimes alone, 
and no character can be richly developed in a 
crowd ; for all important self-knowledge must come 
from quiet, undisturbed, and solitary meditation. View 
any of the greatest men of any of the ages that you 
may choose, and you will find that they had a large 
number of hours that were consecrated to loneliness ; 
and also you will discover that many of their mightiest 
achievements claim as their starting point the ideas 
that leaped into their minds when they were by them- 
selves, when the world was shut out, and when the 
study door was closed against all intruders. Nay, 
more than this. In our own lives, we can each of us 
easily see that to our solitary hours we owe a great 
deal of our present influence and power, material or 
spiritual. In the silence of our chambers we have 
meditated ; and the echoes from such peaceful thinking 
will be heard through heaven and earth, in time and in 
eternity. It may be put down as a very safe rule that 
the greatness is false, weak, and foolish that always 



2l6 SERMONS 

seeks a crowd. Why, the man who is ever before the 
public, challenging notice continually, and dreading 
secrecy and seclusion, has no time to grow, and is all 
the time giving out, but never taking in, power, beauty, 
and grace. Yet I am willing to admit that there are 
some persons whose moral safety depends upon their 
being in constant society ; for they need the human 
eye, a perpetual activity, and a constant dread of being 
found out, that they may be kept in the paths of peace 
and holiness. And they are perfectly trustworthy as 
long as you never put them under the care of simply 
their own company ; but, when you leave them alone, 
they slide away into terrible darkness. 

These exceptional cases, however, do not vitiate the 
general law; for in the long run, with a majority of 
persons, it cannot be gainsaid that solitude is abso- 
lutely necessary for the body, mind, and soul. 

Again, all of us have to be alone in some of the deep- 
est realities of our discipline ; for there are experiences 
which no other human being, however near or precious 
or loving, can possibly share with us, and there are 
trials, pains, sorrows, and vague dreams of the impos- 
sible, the burden of which only our own hearts can 
bear. In some sense, indeed, we are all of us stran- 
gers ; while those whom we think that we know the 
best, very frequently are but very little known to us, as 
we shall find out at the day when all secrets are made 
manifest. One thing is sure, though : everybody is 
much better than we ever dreamed ; and we each of us 
have aspirations, hopes, and intense longings which we 
are afraid to reveal, but which absorb our very life,. 



LONELINESS 217 

holding captive almost all the powers of the mind and 
the soul. 

We cannot tell about our holiest dreams, — no, not 
always to husband or wife, to father or mother, or dear- 
est friends ; for they seem too sacred to be unveiled, too 
tender to be touched by foreign hands, and sometimes 
in too secret, beautiful, and splendid affiliation with 
the gate of heaven to be jostled by human comment or 
shadowed by mortal exposure. In the hour of afflic- 
tion, too, we seem most estranged from the human 
race ; for then, as never before, we comprehend how 
little others can feel that which touches us so keenly, 
and this is the reason that consolatory words so seldom 
embrace the deeper places of the heart, while they so 
frequently seem empty, vain, and hollow. 

When we ourselves are about passing into the Eter- 
nal City, it will be a lonely time ; for we cannot take 
our property with us, nor our family, nor our friends, 
nor anything familiar. A little one once said to her 
father, "Father, when you die, I suppose you will take 
some of your books with you." Ah! her young mind 
could not comprehend the loneliness of the last hour, 
and the wrench that must be made on the human side. 

No, we shall take nothing with us then except the 
spiritual body; and not anybody can we send in our 
place. We can buy substitutes for a war, we can hire 
laborers for special work, and we can choose agents to 
represent us in many of our daily calls ; but here there 
is no shuffling, no substitution, and no buying off, for 
there is no discharge in that war, and we must go 
alone, leaving father, mother, wife, children, and all 



2l8 SERMONS 

behind. Oh, if families could only die together! we 
sometimes feel, as we behold these terrible separations ; 
and yet we shall know hereafter why our hearts are 
left so long to bleed. 

We shall be judged alone. Face to face before Al- 
mighty God we must stand, with all our virtues and all 
our sins ; while our sins, I fear, will send a shadow 
over the little good that we have done, and we shall 
say, with a true humility, God be merciful unto us. 

Yet, friends, despite all I have said in the face of it 
all, and although it may seem to contradict it all, I 
would assert that none of us need be alone in any of 
the experiences of life or in any of the vicissitudes of 
time or eternity ; for every one of us can have a con- 
stant Friend forever, if the desire for companionship be 
strong, clear, and holy. "Ask, and ye shall receive; 
seek, and ye shall find." We have spoken of the great 
character that is formed in loneliness ; and yet no char- 
acter is grand, great, beautiful, and holy that does 
not choose this Friend of whom we speak, while our 
solitary hours are good for nothing, and are worse than 
nothing, without his blessed, gracious, and precious 
aid. In that room where you seem to be alone, there 
must be One present with yourself, or you are not safe. 
I have said that all have to be alone in some of the 
deeper relations of our experience. Yet here I would 
now say, No one can be safe without that Friend, who 
just at such times wants to be with the tried heart; 
for by his quickening power our aspirations, hopes, 
and longings become grandly crowned, while the nu- 
cleus is planted in the anxious heart, which will be sure 



LONELINESS 2ig 

to result in a splendid victory. In the hour of afflic- 
tion, he, the Helper, is the only one who can really 
comfort us ; for, unless we lean upon his bosom and 
hold his hand, we are indeed bewildered, and only 
when he says, " Lo ! it is I, be not afraid," " Lo ! I am 
with you alway," " Let not your heart be troubled," 
" Come unto me," " I am the resurrection and the life," 
with other truths equally grand, massive, and holy, — 
only then do we begin to see light, feel peace, and 
gain strength. So, too, in our own last moments, what 
is to save us from our loneliness and from the crushing 
weight of isolation but the presence of this Friend, 
with his supporting arm ? Hold of his blessed hand, 
we shall not be afraid to cross the narrow stream, and 
we shall not tremble as we enter the heavenly gate. 
Before the Judge, too, why need we fear, if we have 
tried to do our best, if this dear One be with us to 
plead our cause, extenuate our weakness, and reunite 
us to the gracious heart of God ? This Friend, — ah ! 
you know his name. It is Jesus Christ, our Saviour 
and our Redeemer. How lonely he sometimes must 
have felt ! and we naturally ask ourselves, when we 
think of Jesus : Where could such a person obtain sym- 
pathy ? Who could enter into his feelings ? Who 
could sound his powers ? Where could he look among 
men for any one able to understand him ? And where 
could Jesus find a bosom companion ? The best man 
living would be vastly below him, and those who loved 
him with all their hearts could the least help him in his 
hours of sadness. He may perhaps have thus talked 
with himself : I am alone, and those the nearest to 



2 20 SERMONS 

me are yet a great distance off ; for my mission is not 
for mortal to comprehend, and to whom can I commu- 
nicate my inner life, to whom can I whisper my great- 
ness, and where is the bosom on which I can rest ? 
Then comes the response in his breast that breaks so 
sweetly out of his lips : I am not alone, — no, not de- 
serted, — for the Father is with me. Man may not 
understand me, I seem to be an alien in the world ; 
but I have God at my side, — God, the Maker of earth, 
man, and all things. So Jesus was not alone, — thanks 
be to God for that ! 

" I am left alone," There is a deep sadness pervad- 
ing these words, and they have a kind of music like a 
dirge, while they do express a certain state of the soul 
of all the children of God. One may say that God and 
Christ are very near, may be beautifully comforted by 
the thought of a heavenly companionship, and may be 
stirred by the idea that tens of thousands of angels are 
on all sides, and yet may feel bereft, fearfully stricken, 
and under the sense of the utter absence of human 
companionship ; for we want man or woman near to 
us, and, however much we may love God and Jesus, 
we crave somebody here who shall understand us as 
well as somebody in the Celestial City. Oh, let some 
one as frail as ourselves take us by the hand, and seize 
affectionately our heart, yet how seldom we get a full 
earthly companionship ! Who could clearly enter into 
the large heart and brain of a Moses, or a David, or an 
Ezekiel, or an Isaiah, or of any of those mighty men 
of early years, whose thoughts and deeds rose so high 
above the crowd, and swept upon the world like a 



LONELINESS 221 

breeze from heaven ? Who could stand by Copernicus 
or by Galileo, and grasp in full their giant minds, enter 
into clear and holy communion with their royal spirits ? 
Some time ago the writings of Seneca fell under my 
gaze ; and so grand, sweet, pure, and heavenly did some 
of his sentences seem that the heathen appeared to 
have been transfigured, almost wearing the garb of one 
of the disciples of Jesus. Now where was the Roman 
who could be a companion for Seneca ? Could Nero, 
or any at his court ? Could the priests, who were full 
of idolatry ? Could the common people, who thronged 
the streets, careless of life and regardless of its end ? 
No, no ! he was deserted. So with us all ; for with all 
our Christianity, with all our faith, and with all our 
looking forward to a blessed immortality, there are 
times when we are crushed by a sense of complete 
isolation. Similar is each one's experience to that of 
a traveller who should enter some great but deserted 
city. The buildings are there, streets beautifully laid 
out, parks ornamented with statues and filled with 
fountains, and everything is seen that is grand and 
suggestive ; but no human being is anywhere to be 
found, no one to hear his voice and no one to answer 
his questions. Ah ! what an awe would creep over this 
traveller, what dread would seize him, and what cold 
chills would twist, freeze, and overpower his heart ! 

But, friends, in each of our souls there is a great 
city that is full of grandeur, while we are the only 
ones privileged to walk its streets, visit its homes, and 
gaze at its magnificence ; and no being is present but 
ourselves. Ah ! these mysterious strugglings of the 



222 SERMONS 

soul, these bright gleams of light, and these inward 
palaces, parks, statues, and fountains, — who has not 
seen them, felt their blessed presence, and mused over 
their strange intimations, and yet who can declare their 
full, glorious, and sacred meaning ? 

"I am left alone." Yes, you are left alone, while 
you should not be sad under the thought, but should 
grow strong by its mysterious pressure ; for you are 
left alone, that you may the better meditate upon God 
and His glory, upon Jesus and his love, upon the Holy 
Spirit and its cleansing power, upon all heaven and its 
beatitudes, upon duty and its sublimity, pain and its 
mighty suggestions, and upon death and its sure immor- 
tality. You are by yourself, that you may get strength 
by which you can help others to grow strong, so that 
over all hearts you may be able to pour a blessed stream 
of light, peace, and glory. 

Learn, then, the great lesson of solitude, secure the 
mighty prize that it offers, and finally receive a holy 
consecration for persistent and glorious fidelity. 

" I am left alone." No, again I say, not alone, for 
Jesus is with us all, and will help us all, if we seek his 
blessed, uplifting, and elevating aid ; and so let us each 
say, in the words of the poet : — 

" Jesus, my Saviour, look on me ! 
For I am weary and oppressed. 
I come to cast my soul on thee, 
Thou art my rest. 

" Look down on me, for I am weak ; 
I feel the toilsome journey's length. 
Thine aid omnipotent I seek, 
Thou art my strength. 



LONELINESS 223 

" I am bewildered on my way, 

Dark and tempestuous is the night. 
Oh, shed thou forth some cheering ray, 
Thou art my light. 

" Thou wilt my every want supply, 
E'en to the end, whate'er befall. 
Through life, in death, eternally, 
Thou art my all." 



XXIII. 

GOD KNOWS. 

" The Lord God of gods, he knoweth." — Josh. xxii. 22. 

IT is a great satisfaction when we feel that there is 
one Being who knows everything. After some 
great perplexity, some dark hour, and some mysterious 
visitation, when there seemed to be no clew to an event, 
no interpretation arching it, and not a spark of illumina- 
tion about it, it is a blessed relief, both to our mind and 
soul, when we feel that somebody knows about it, that 
somebody can understand it, can thoroughly sift it, and 
will in good time bring out its illuminated side, and 
reveal the spiritual diamonds so long concealed in dark- 
ness, sorrow, and grief. Though mortal be lost in 
query, and nature be ever so dumb, God knows, and, 
if God knows, that is enough ; and why need we be 
troubled, for the whole affair rests in good hands, and 
the issue will be, and must be, well, grand, and glorious. 
He who made the stars, forced them into place, balanced 
them so beautifully, set them so thickly in the skies, 
and clothed them with such holy brightness ; and He 
who filled the earth with all its attractions, sprinkling 
it with gardens, spotting it with forests, setting upon 
it huge mountains, like a picket guard, to ward off its 



GOD KNOWS 225 

foes, refreshing it with cool breezes and delightful 
showers, and charming its landscape with brooks, rivers, 
and oceans, thus saving it from dying of thirst, and 
filling it with animated beings, who for use and for 
ornament should adorn and consecrate it, and sending 
at last mortals into it, that they might gain happiness, 
strength, peace, and a sound and a holy culture, — He, 
our God and our Father, knows. 

Knows what ? The uses of things, — why the world 
was made, why we were made, the meaning of the 
events that greet us, what lessons they convey, what 
benedictions they unfold, what promises they hold out, 
and how much culture we shall gain by them, and what 
they want to do with us and do for us ; knows all about 
life, — why it was given, why it is prolonged, why it is 
taken away, and what becomes of it after it has gone 
from our earthly sight; understands heaven, — where it 
is, what it is like, who live there, what they are about, 
how they look, how they are clothed and all about 
them; understands time, — its limitations, — and eter- 
nity, — its length ; ay, comprehends everything, from 
the smallest insect that crawls at our feet to the 
highest archangel in the Celestial Kingdom. The fate 
of God's children, the destiny of kingdoms, and the 
duration of the world are all clear to that eternal wis- 
dom that can never get dark, nor cold, nor lost. No 
surprises, no defeats, and no accidents with God ; for 
He has one grand plan, one comprehensive scheme, and 
one sublime arrangement, taking centuries for growth, 
it may be, requiring innumerable pains for discipline, 
and yet working out results in splendid conformity to 



226 SERMONS 

His holy and blessed will. Friends, can anything be 
more cheering than this fact, and is there anything 
strange about it ? Strange that the Maker should be 
familiar with what He has made, wonderful that the 
Architect should understand all about his building, and 
peculiar that the Creator of the world should compre- 
hend what He has produced ? How is it in every-day 
affairs ? Would it not be wonderful if Mozart and Bee- 
thoven did not understand their own music, stood apart 
from it as strangers, and were unable to comprehend 
the science of its melody ? or if Powers stood before 
one of his statues dumb as an idiot, and unable to give 
an account of how it was shaped into its wondrous 
beauty ? or if Rubens stared at one of his own pict- 
ures with a vacant gaze, and with a total inability to 
trace out the preparatory steps that led to its execu- 
tion ? Then is it not very natural that the great Musi- 
cian of earth and heaven should be able to explain all 
the grand chorus of the ages, that the holy Sculptor 
of all time should be able to describe every particular 
of His work, or that the great Painter of both worlds 
should, with a keen wisdom, delight in His own magnifi- 
cent paintings ? 

I come now to my second proposition, that grows 
out of the first, — we do not know. Here we find two 
parties in the Christian Church. One says, "We do 
not know anything, and never can know anything"; 
and the other says, " We do know something, but that 
something will not amount to much until God reveals 
more knowledge." I confess, I do not think that, in 
order to exalt God, we must utterly extinguish our- 



GOD KNOWS 227 

selves. Should we think, in this world, of declaring 
our appreciation of any one by abusing the works of 
such a person ? Should we call Raphael a great artist, 
but at the same time ridicule his Madonna ? Or should 
we call Webster a great statesman, and yet sharply 
criticise every " State paper " he ever wrote ? No, 
never. We identify the works with their author, and 
we show our respect for both together ; and so, rever- 
ently, as we look at each human being, let us speak of 
his nature, knowing that God made it, and of his capaci- 
ties, knowing that God gave them. 

If I say that a human being is utterly incapable of 
ever being enlightened, has no power, and is bound 
irrevocably to sin, with no chance to escape, you may 
very properly ask me, " Who could have made such a 
being as that?" And you may just as properly con- 
clude that it must have been a Being for whom no 
great and mighty affection could possibly be felt. I 
make no qualifications here ; but let me be perfectly 
understood. That moment that we declare the infant 
as devoid of all possible reception of good, as free 
from all propensities to right, as covered only by sin, 
and as gravitating naturally to evil, why, that very 
moment, we cast aspersions against the Maker of that 
infant ; and we are uttering a most terrible judgment 
against ourselves. But, because we can do something, 
— ay, many things, — and because we are something, — 
ay, much, — it does not follow that we can do every- 
thing or that we are self-sufficient. No, never. God 
made us, and therefore we are not failures ; and let us 
not for a moment suppose that God has made a mis- 



2 28 SERMONS 

take in our creation, but, because we are made, we are 
dependent, frail, and we must often and always look to 
our Creator for aid and blessing. I say it reverently, 
God has not made us gods, but He has not made us 
imps, and there is a great deal of which we are all 
ignorant ; and let us not be ashamed to confess that 
fact every day that we live. 

As I hold my hand and count off the beats of my 
pulse, while with the precision of a watch they mark 
off the little span of my life, I am willing to own that 
I cannot see what makes the motion so punctual, so 
patient, and so persistent ; and as I talk with you now 
on these high themes, toward the solution of which 
talking does so little, I cannot see how the air so cor- 
dially embraces my lips, nor how my lips and tongue 
become such amicable partners as they bargain with 
the mind for something to say, taking a license from 
the will for the power to say it, and then by some 
stratagem manage to steal into your ears, and to lodge, 
I hope, somewhere near your hearts. I cannot see 
how these things are done. It is more cunning than 
the sleight of hand of the magician, and it is more sub- 
lime than any of the stupendous works of nature ; and 
yet it is so common that we hardly stop to consider 
the wonder, glory, and beauty that adhere to it. 
Again, here we are, billions of people in the world, 
with the same features, but every one has a special 
look ; and how could the Divine Sculptor have accom- 
plished that ? 

So I might go on, citing cases without number 
where we have to confess our short sight, our weak- 



GOD KNOWS 229 

ness, the poverty of our mind, and the emptiness of 
our heart. 

Yes, we are engirdled by mysteries, we are swim- 
ming in a sea of fog, and we are just as poorly off as 
once seemed little Moses on the Nile in his " bulrush 
ark." Yet is it not something that we can by the 
grace of God think, talk, write, walk, and live? and can 
we speak meanly of one who can do all these things ? 
No, I would not speak disparagingly of a brute, much 
less, unless I were foolish or mad, would I malign man, 
— man with his wonderful body that is so intricately 
and so powerfully shaped, with his splendid brain, the 
cathedral where birth is given to so much inspiriting 
music and to so much priestly thought, and where 
ideas in such stately and sublime procession march 
into light ; man with his imperishable soul, that has so 
much of the divine in it and has been so illuminated 
by the grace of God. Can we speak slightingly of 
this massive work of Heaven, — a human being, a man, 
a woman, a little babe, so unconscious and yet so 
mysteriously attractive ? . Forbid it, Father ! Make us 
humble, but do not let us be ungrateful. Make us 
penitent, but show us what we can be if we choose, 
God helping. Unroll the chart of our possible destiny, 
and teach us — oh, teach us ! — the ineffable grandeur 
of that sentence of Scripture which announces that 
man is made after the image of God. 

As we look at history and at historical results, it be- 
comes very evident that all through the past ages there 
has been a providential plan. If we made ourselves 
Romans, Grecians, or Hebrews, and if we threw our- 



230 SERMONS 

selves back thousands of years, we should hardly under- 
stand that some of our greatest trials were to prove 
such a vast benediction to after ages. We could 
hardly believe that our decay would prove to others 
life, and that every pang we suffered, both as nations 
and as individuals, was in accordance with the great, 
glorious, and holy scheme of Providence. What would 
be called in ancient days subjugation, invasion, and a 
despotism, has since proved emancipation ; while the 
baptism of blood then offered has resulted in the salva- 
tion of the future. When the Vandals and Goths were 
overrunning the fairest portions of Europe, and were 
making their name a terror to multitudes, very few, I 
suppose, could then see any beneficence clinging to the 
visitation, could detect any marks of a good God over- 
looking the calamity, and could catch any light from 
the window of heaven that would soothe distressed 
hearts. But how is it now, as we measure the results ? 
Do we not see that civilization used these rough men 
for its own purposes, and compelled them at last to 
bend in subjection? And do we not see that their 
visits were needed, just as tornadoes, earthquakes, and 
thunder-storms are needed, in order to clear the air, to 
settle the atmosphere, and to stir up a new spirit in 
stagnant hearts ? I suppose, when the Pilgrims started 
for America, there were a good many who called them 
hard names ; who exclaimed, The experiment is a fool- 
ish one, and those undertaking it are mad ; who cried 
out, What ! leave a home of so many comforts and 
desert so many friends, just to explore a wilderness 
and to encounter the tomahawk ? Such was the talk 



GOD KNOWS 231 

in 1620; but what do you and I say now in 1888? 
When, only a few years ago, a certain number of 
colored people were sent to Liberia, that an independ- 
ent colony might be formed there by themselves, 
where there would be no conflict of races, there were 
plenty of people ready to predict the failure of the 
movement, ready to call it visionary and mad ; in fact, 
some went so far as to brand it as cruel. But look to- 
day, and what do you see ? A large nation, industrious 
and happy, and fringing the coast of Africa, who are 
destined in time to civilize that portion of the globe 
that is so little known, but is becoming better known 
every year, that is so rich in soil, minerals, and every- 
thing that makes a country valuable and attractive. 

Friends, time explains a great many things that we 
do not understand to-day ; and events always prove that 
He who rules the heavens and the earth is never be- 
wildered nor mistaken nor vanquished. As one has 

said, — 

" His purposes will ripen fast, 
Unfolding every hour. 
The bud may have a bitter taste, 
But sweet will be the flower." 

Let each one of us take our own personal experience, 
and trace it back, and see what we wanted to do, and 
where we wanted to go, when God would not let us do 
it, and when God held us back, and when God seemed 
to be working against us, and how does the retrospect 
look with our present experience ? Did not God know 
best ? and has not everything come out aright, and was 
it not well for us that years ago a restraining hand was 



232 SERMONS 

placed upon our pleasures, appetites, and desires ? And 
is it not better that we were turned aside from the road 
that we desired to travel ? 

I think one of the bewitching attractions of biography- 
rests in the fact that we often detect what appear to be 
very slight and very trivial matters changing the whole 
course of a person's life. Washington gave up going 
into the navy, in order to please his mother ; and thus a 
hero was secured for America, and a splendid monu- 
ment of goodness and greatness for all the world. 
Franklin started on a journey to Philadelphia, as a 
mere pauper, and went under false promises to Lon- 
don ; and thus a philosopher was educated for all time. 
The eyesight of a Prescott was suddenly eclipsed, but 
out of that darkness an historian was born, whose sweet 
rhetoric will always prove a fascination and a culture. 
Yes, the slightest incidents that we call disappoint- 
ments are often the turning points in our experience, 
and prove the very moment when Heaven interposes, 
and shapes us for ends more consistent with the will of 
God. Thanks be to the Father, we are not left alone 
in this labyrinth of life ; but the voice often comes, 
clear, and strong, and beautiful, "This is the way, walk 
ye in it." 

Let us turn now to the Master, our dear Lord ; for he, 
throughout all his experience, well illustrates our sub- 
ject. As we trace his history during his thirty-three 
years' pilgrimage upon the earth, there is a great deal 
about it that is distressing and dark. How much he 
suffered in the body, how much he was misunderstood, 
and what trials of the heart he had to endure ! His 



GOD KNOWS 233 

own family ridiculed him, his own disciples deserted 
him, his own nation put him to death ; and can God be 
looking on, and see his only Son thus treated ? We 
feel, as we gaze at the scene, like exclaiming, There is 
no hope, no light, no peace, and no promise ! But stop 
a moment ! We must not stand looking all the time 
at the cross, — grand and glorious and consecrating as 
such a gaze is and must be, — but we must look further 
and look deeper : we must see the resurrection and the 
ascension, and we must count the echoes that leap out 
of that holy life and those sublime teachings. We must 
know what Christianity has done, and what it will do ; 
and then can we doubt God's knowledge, and do we not 
feel that the Infinite One knew what was best ? 

Certainly, the life of Jesus is best calculated of all 
lives to show us the impotency of all our human sur- 
mises and of all our earthly definitions of success. If 
we had lived in the days of our Master, very few of us, 
I fear, would have been his disciples ; for we could not 
have seen our way clear, and the whole popular voice 
would have been against such a choice, and all our 
early prejudices would have urged us to keep quiet. 
We should probably have exclaimed, Why follow him ? 
Is he not obscure, an enthusiast, without power ? and 
does he not choose his friends in such a way that he 
never can grow great ? Why should we follow him ? 
But, ah ! what poor seers we should have been, what 
miserable philosophers, how blindly we should have 
read the signs of the times, and what a fatal mistake 
would have been ours ! 

" God knows." I have taken the words of the apostle 



234 SERMONS 

for our lesson to-day, in order that we may bind them 
upon our hearts, and thus fortify ourselves against 
all surprises and all defeats. And God grant that we 
may rest contented because He knows, and thus become 
consecrated, illuminated, and saved. The poet says: — 

" Thy way, not mine, O Lord, however dark it be. 
Lead me by Thine own hand, choose Thou the path for me ; 
Smooth let it be, or rough, it still will be the best ; 
Winding or straight, it matters not, it leads me to Thy rest. 
I dare not choose my lot, I would not, if I might : 
Choose Thou for me, my God, so shall I walk aright. 
The Kingdom that I seek is Thine, so let the way 
That leads to it be Thine, else I must surely stray. 
Take Thou my cup, and it with joy or sorrow fill 
As best to Thee may seem ; choose Thou my good or ill. 
Choose Thou for me my friends, my sickness or my health ; 
Choose Thou my cares for me, my poverty or wealth. 
Not mine, not mine, the choice, in things or great or small, 
Be Thou my guide, my strength, my wisdom, and my all." 

" God knows." Thanks be to God that the knowl- 
edge is in such good hands, and that the power and 
desire to help and bless are always allied to that great 
wisdom. Oh, how faith loves to believe that, and what 
lofty inspirations we gain from the thought, and what 
strong endurance, what holy piety, what noble hopes, 
and what gushing affections will enrich our minds and 
our souls when we are comforted, sustained, and conse- 
crated by the thought of God's omniscience ! We are 
safe, we are happy, we are crowned ; and nothing can 
hurt us nor disturb us nor break us down, for " God 
knows" 



XXIV. 

THE DEATH OF THE YEAR. 

11 As yesterday when it is past. — Psalm xc. 4. 

THE past ! This word is full of suggestion, rich 
with power, and stirs up the deepest depths of 
the soul. Since the day that Adam and Eve appeared, 
a history has preceded us all, we all have had the privi- 
lege of looking back, have had ancestors, and an ances- 
try of deeds that we might scan, interpret, and weave 
into our discipline ; and all nature, revelation, and 
intuition have brought their beautiful, holy, and uplift- 
ing contributions to our souls. Even Adam himself 
could look behind, not upon men, but upon epochs, 
geological formations, and wonderful convulsions of 
hundreds of thousands of years, as some scholars of 
the present day assert, or at least upon days and nights 
full of commotion, changes, and growth, as all will 
allow ; and so the first man began to exist with a history 
that might buttress his mind, evoke his curiosity, en- 
large his soul. And this fact, being day by day more 
developed, demands our philosophical, grateful, and lov- 
ing search. 

How many races of people have risen up, grown 
strong, and become famous, for centuries challenging 



236 SERMONS 

admiration, and then, in a very short time, have passed 
away, to be remembered only in story ! Romans,. 
Persians, Greeks, and Babylonians, and thousands of 
others, have to-day startled the world, and to-morrow 
have faded out of sight, existing only ever afterward in 
the sacred corner of memory. To-day, a Caesar crosses 
the Rubicon, a Xerxes views his hundred thousand 
dependants, a Cyrus steals a march upon a carousing 
monarch, and an Alexander or a Philip bends in sub- 
jection myriads of kings ; but to-morrow, the inevitable 
to-morrow, a Brutus puts out of sight the consul and 
would-be emperor of Rome, six feet of land enclose 
the ashes of a Xerxes, Cyrus has passed on to his 
account, and an Alexander and a Philip are only names 
used by foolish nurses that children may be terrified 
into obedience. And yet to-morrow facts are inaug- 
urated into existence, woven into a past, and built up 
into a monument, — facts that must be sifted, studied, 
and consecrated, so that the to-day may be rightly im- 
proved, blessed, and redeemed. Ancient customs also 
that have ceased, but that in their day were admirable, 
noble, and suggestive, are to be examined. 

What if an oracle at Delphi, that gave the fitting 
response to every question that was put to it, seem in- 
credible ! What if foolish incantations over the bones 
of the dead, that were supposed to give birth to miracu- 
lous cures and to strange inspirations, are to-day pro- 
nounced absurd ! What if gladiatorial games, the 
servile state of woman, cannibalism, and all the curious 
ways of those who preceded us, to-day seem unreason- 
able, cruel, superstitious, and afford no grounds for 



THE DEATH OF THE YEAR 237 

belief! Are they not full of instruction, and do they 
not let us somewhat into the freaks of the brain ? and 
open they not somehow crevices into human nature, 
which it would be profitable for us to explore ? 

The ideas that have flourished in the ages that have 
ceased, grotesque, sad, and insane as they may seem, 
such as the assertion that the world was balanced on 
an elephant, that there is no such thing as substance, 
and that what seems to be material is only a thought 
of the brain, or that a man is only a highly cultivated 
animal, — all these fantastic ideas of those who have 
gone before us, who firmly believed them, are related 
to us for our education, are a sort of inlet to us on the 
way to truth, and shed a light on the road that we must 
travel ; and so we are to live in, to brood over, and to 
search into the nations, customs, and thoughts that 
have finished their record, and thus shall we gain for 
ourselves strength, light, and grace for coming days. 
And there are ever memorials of the days bygone con- 
tinually before us ; and they plead for their own time, 
and claim a friendly, earnest, and holy study. These 
memorials we may classify under the general names of 
statues, buildings, books, nature, and men. 

When one generation wishes to talk with another 
generation, one of the most usual of ways is to embody 
what is to be said in a marble or stone pillar that is 
suitably engraved, that can tell its own story, and con- 
vey with itself hints sufficient to call out the curiosity 
of future generations. All through the Old World are 
to be seen these stony epistles, and in our own land we 
are just beginning to appreciate this method of com- 



238 SERMONS 

munication ; and thus is the philosophy of one period 
transferred to another period through the monument of 
a philosopher, or statesmanship through the monument 
of a statesman, or philanthropy through the monu- 
ment of a benefactor, and so on forever. And future 
generations stand gazing at these shafts that loom into 
the air, and from the man look into the principle ; and 
from the principle observe the age where it was pub- 
lished, and thus become, by a natural chain of cause 
with effect, intimately connected with scenes that are 
thus reborn, proclaimed, and cemented. 

Buildings that are erected that they may brave time 
and storm, and as a sort of telegraph to myriads unborn, 
are encrusted speech preserved for articulation, when 
the day of utterance is almost a myth. The ruins of 
Pompeii, St. Peter's Church at Rome, some broken 
stones at Tyre, a few relics in Jerusalem, some of the 
pipes underneath the ground of the Eternal City, and 
some of the ruins in Athens, — ay, these and many other 
things, attest to the truth that we would advance ; for 
scattered all over the world can be found the embalmed 
echoes of those whose dust has mingled with the air 
that we daily breathe, or has even been incorporated 
into our own frames. 

Next, let us look at books, through whose blessed aid 
we are taught continually to think. Enter any library, 
and with what tones does the atmosphere all around 
vibrate! What chanting from the centuries is there! 
what choruses from choirs that were once under the 
guidance of a Mozart or a Beethoven ; or what deeper 
music from master-hands like Milton or Bacon or 



THE DEATH OF THE YEAR 239 

Shakspere ! A sensitive mind is almost bewildered 
in a place like this ; for volumes become to such kind 
of minds like persons, and the room appears actually 
crowded with antique authors, publishers, and saints. 
Books are issued every year for the three purposes of 
educating the present, enthroning the past, and sending 
a message to the future. How beautifully these three 
purposes are blended in the great Book, the word of 
God, where all times, customs, nations, and thoughts 
are gathered together, consecrated and preserved in 
print ! Thus we converse with Adam, and Adam speaks 
to us. 

Nature, also, has a curious way of connecting us with 
the earlier times of the world ; and this fact a student 
of geology or astronomy or mineralogy or botany, or 
of all the sciences, well knows. The mastodon and the 
fish, embedded in a rock, attest to this truth ; and the 
oak under which many children have been sheltered, 
and the stars upon which Abraham looked, indorse 
eloquently our words. There is a history in light that 
travels so many miles, or in the very earth that we 
tread, that had its being almost from the beginning. 

Again, man speaks for that which long ages preceded 
him. We do not mean to refer to the legend of the 
wandering Jew, who has been seen in all parts of the 
world so many hundred years, and who will not die 
till the Jews are re-established in their chief city, nor 
to the belief of many learned men that we carry about 
with us in our frames the dust of people who ceased to 
exist thousands of years ago ; but we refer to the truth 
that, in every age, some persons live to be a hundred 



2/J-O SERMONS 

years old or more, and that through these persons the 
ages are all linked together, so that, with the requisite 
data, we could trace back an unbroken link by these 
relics of each century to the days of Genesis. 

Thus God, by many ways, treasures up for us the 
occurrences of each year, and proves to us that He 
wishes that we should gaze very devotionally, earnestly, 
and gratefully into "the yesterday that is past." 

Now, what are the influences that start out of history ? 

They lodge in two words : gains and losses, — the 
gains suggesting to us helps on our course, with such 
improvements as we may choose to add, and the losses 
acting as beacons to warn us against dashing against 
rocks on which other persons have been wrecked ; and 
thus, by sifting the doing of other days, our life is 
strengthened, the dangers threatening us are to some 
degree dispelled, and the mysteries overhanging our 
paths are better understood. 

Once more, the interest that clings to everything 
connected with our early history, increasing with our 
growth and hallowing our lives, is an added testimony 
to the value of yesterday. The home of our boyhood, 
the friends whose familiar faces no longer greet us, the 
school-house or the church where many joyous or weary 
days have been spent, and the airy castles that our 
verdant imagination has built, — all these things we de- 
light to consider in our minds or to reconsecrate by 
memory's aid ; and such references to the hours that 
have ceased, if not dwelt upon morbidly, will serve us 
well in the upbuilding of spiritual longings for that 
world where no changes can possibly come. 



THE DEATH OF THE YEAR 241 

Again, while we maintain that there is a close con- 
nection between the ages and one unbroken chain from 
the days of Genesis till now, we must also bear in 
mind, and distinctly avow, that each age has its own 
history, its own part to play, and something peculiar to 
itself, very grand and very beautiful, — something that 
cannot be mingled with anything else ; and we are to 
allow that one year cannot rightly be compared with 
another year, since each day has an original record not 
to be transferred. In the Old Dispensation, we find 
one period patriarchal, another prophetical and another 
poetical, and in the New Testament we find the varied 
changes peculiar to certain times and to no other time ; 
and so in all history, from the first century till the 
present hour. The one who, with caution allied to phi- 
losophy, casts his eyes upon the past witnesses both 
unity and diversity, — a unity of growth, but a diversity 
of methods, and the varied methods as peculiar to 
varied seasons. 

When we all are uplifted to the bright world, and 
view the earth with our vision cleared by celestial light, 
while in one gaze thousands of years are marshalled to 
sight, these truths will forcibly impress us : how every 
event has a place, how every era its sign and its power, 
and how free from all confusion all providential arrange- 
ments have been ordained. 

Sometimes you find people who deem a study of the 
past a useless employment. Let history go, they say, 
but press forward, and no matter about religion's 
growth, they maintain ; for the more important step for 
us to take is to become religious. No matter, they 



242 SERMONS 

assert, about the Jews or the early Christians ; for the 
whole life should be given to the continued training of 
our own hearts, and our whole mind should be engaged 
upon the query, What shall be done next ? while such 
people cite Saint Paul's words as favoring their views, 
when he says, " Letting go the things that are behind."' 
There is enough of truth resting in these statements to 
make them appear plausible. It is well for us to march 
on. We should not be encumbered with any burdens. 
Our mistakes we should not brood over nor magnify, 
else our advance will be impeded. And yet, all these 
things being allowed, there is a place for retrospect ; 
and the apostle certainly proved the fact when he ex- 
claimed, " O wretched man that I am ! " when he referred 
to his earthly life, when he often represented, in a vivid 
manner, the changes that had intersected his life, when 
he described his education at the feet of Gameliel, his 
journey to Damascus, his ascent to the third heavens, 
the perils through which he passed, the dangers by land 
or by sea, and all the vicissitudes that so painfully, 
peculiarly, and wonderfully fell to his lot. 

We are cautioned against making retrospect a burden, 
but never against converting it into a profit ; and hence 
the whole argument of the Bible chiefly rests on this 
pivot, that antiquity must be searched, otherwise how 
are we to know anything about the Bible itself, since 
that only exists as a record, the pages of which were 
transcribed ere our first breath was taken ? 

To Christians there is a yesterday peculiarly endeared,, 
on account of the occurrences that adorned it, — the 
day of Christ's life when his words of wisdom were 



THE DEATH OF THE YEAR 243 

spoken, when his miracles were wrought, and when, in 
his own daily deeds, he embalmed his precepts ; and 
without this yesterday blank would be our hope, sad 
our hearts, weak and weary our footsteps, the grave an 
awful prison house, and the future too terrific to be 
measured or expressed by language. But, with this 
glorious past, a holy glow spreads over our pursuits, 
our fears depart, and our look toward the unknown 
shore is calm, holy, and triumphant ! 

Yesterday has passed, — its joys and its sorrows, its 
virtues and its sins, and all its wonderful changes, — 
and the time has passed so quickly that we did not heed 
its passage ; but the work assigned to it has been 
accomplished, and our performance, be it fruitful or 
worthless, has left its mark upon it. And, whether our 
influence has been for good or for evil, God only knows. 

There is, then, a suggestion, an encouragement, a 
warning, and a promise resting in the words of our 
text. The suggestion is that the time, as it goes, must 
be freighted with our good thoughts and deeds. The 
encouragement is that a merciful Father, who remem- 
bers that we are dust, scans with mighty pity the fleet- 
ing hours. The warning is that our sins leave a stain 
behind them that never can be erased. The promise is 
that the faithful endeavors that have adorned our history, 
as we enter heaven, shall gain for us the " welcome " 
that is so powerfully described by our Lord in many of 
his most interesting parables. 



XXV. 

THE SELLING OF OUR BIRTHRIGHT. 

" Esau despised his birthright." — Gen. xxv. 34. 

THE Scripture scene is thus portrayed by the sacred 
writer: "And the boys grew: and Esau was a 
cunning hunter, a man of the field ; and Jacob was 
a plain man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau 
because he did eat of his venison ; but Rebekah loved 
Jacob. And Jacob sod pottage : and Esau came from 
the field, and he was faint. And Esau said to Jacob, 
Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage ; for 
I am faint. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy 
birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point 
to die ; and what profit shall this birthright do to me ? 
And Jacob said, Swear to me this day ; and he sware 
unto him : and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then 
Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles ; and he 
did eat and drink, and rose up and went his way, thus 
Esau despised his birthright." 

The first-born among the Jews, in the early ages of 
the Hebrew Church, had peculiar rights. Some of the 
privileges that are mentioned by historians are these : 
" From the eldest male child, it was expected, the Mes- 



THE SELLING OF OUR BIRTHRIGHT 



2 45 



siah in due time would appear in the world. The first 
child given was entitled to a double portion of the 
parents' property. He had pre-eminence and authority 
over his brethren. He had the privilege of offering 
sacrifices in the family. All these rights were vio- 
lated by crime, or might be set aside at the will of the 
father, in his final blessing, which was viewed as a sort 
of testamentary bequest." 

But Esau sold all his rights, in order that he might 
gratify his passions, simply that he might obtain some- 
thing to eat ; and, because he was hungry, he threw 
aside the grand dignity of being referred to as the 
ancestor of the Messiah, gave up the financial advan- 
tage of being the best served in the division of the 
paternal estate, relinquished the ambition, pleasure, and 
glory of being the ruler of the house and the priest 
of the family, and threw all these gains aside, simply 
for a small dish of peas, a little lump of bread, and per- 
haps also for a mere cup of water. Our first thought 
is that he must have been insane. We cannot really 
believe that he could coolly enter into such a disastrous 
bargain as that ; and we have also a solid contempt for 
Jacob because he took advantage of his brother when 
he was in such a doubtful condition of mind. 

Again, as we look a little deeper into the account, 
while we blame Jacob just as much, perhaps a little 
more, for his wicked and not by any means fraternal 
shrewdness, we see also that Esau was considerably in 
the wrong, and that he was not quite so weak in intel- 
lect as we at first supposed ; for he knew well enough 
what he was about, and he felt very sure that he offered 



546 SERMONS 

an enormous price for a poor dinner. But he argues 
with himself thus : Why need I care ? I am starving, 
I shall die; and what use will my advantages be if I 
die ? It was a deliberate bargain, cautiously made, in 
what was supposed by a diseased imagination to be an 
extreme case, and just such bargains have been made 
ever since, are made every day ; while I, for one, am 
very much obliged to the writer of Genesis that he has 
given to us, in the very twilight of history, a scene 
that has its lessons for all ages and for all time. All 
Christians have a birthright, and so, too, they are very 
apt to part with it for a trifling bribe ; and, that they 
may secure personal comfort for a brief period of time, 
they will surrender the best interests of the soul. It is 
by the right of our birth in a Christian land, because we 
are brought under Christian nurture, and because the 
blood of thousands of believing ancestors tingles in 
our bodies, that we take the name of our Master, and 
that we are at once enrolled under his standard. As 
a Mohammedan is born a Mohammedan, as a Hindoo 
is born a Hindoo, and as a Jew is born a Jew, so, in a 
certain sense, a Christian is born a Christian. 

I take this ground, that every child that is born of 
Christian parents is a Christian child ; for what else 
shall I call the babe ? Or, what is better, far better, 
what does God call him ? Baptism, which in my mind 
is one of the most important rites of the Church, is 
the public announcement that the child presented is 
God's child, a disciple of Jesus, and one surrendered to 
the full control of Heaven. But, say some, if we are 
born into the love of God, into discipleship to Jesus, 



THE SELLING OF OUR BIRTHRIGHT 247 

into all the glories of revelation, splendors of nature, 
and possibilities of greatness and grandeur that can be 
conceived, how is it that so many go astray? And how 
is it that so many remain forever in sin ? I allow the 
universality of sin, for, in fact, it is so universal that no 
one can deny it, and so deeply seated in every heart 
that it cannot be covered up ; but this allowance, how- 
ever, does not hurt my argument in the least, for there 
is no such thing as sin without a previous virtue, with- 
out a something to sin against, and we must first be 
good before we can possibly be bad. 

If we have all sold our birthrights, it is a very fair 
supposition that we had a noble thing to sell that was 
our own property ; for we could not well cheat the 
arch-fiend himself by a pretended ownership in a val- 
ueless estate. We commence life virtuous, or, rather, 
innocent, with a large capacity for virtue ; but we are 
quite apt, however, before we go far into life, to sell 
our capacity for any of the baubles of the world that 
the tempter may choose to present. We easily traf- 
fic it off for an hour's pleasure, glittering wealth, and 
great fame. We forget that we possess the pearl of 
great price. We know not what a treasure was ours 
till we are smarting under its foolish loss, and, like 
Esau, we have our weak, empty, and wicked excuses 
for our foolish surrender of such valuable property. 
Let each one ask himself or herself, For what have I 
sold my birthright ? Have I sold this precious boon of 
God for an hour's pleasure ; and, if so, why ? We may 
thus excuse ourselves : The temptation was great, the 
prize immediate, bosom companions were looking on 



248 SERMONS 

and were cheering us on, we felt that life was shorty 
and that it was ordained for enjoyment, and we thought 
that it was foolish for us to lose a good opportunity 
when we were young, hearty, impulsive, and thought- 
less. We knew, we exclaim, that what we wished to 
do was not exactly right ; but we were aware that a 
great many did the same thing, and also that they stood 
high in society notwithstanding, and were applauded by 
many who called themselves virtuous. We called our 
very appetite for the forbidden pleasure a justification 
for the license ; for who could blame, we argued, but 
the bigot, or the cynic, or the man who, when young, 
committed the same sins, but who had now become 
too old to remember it, and too much of a hypocrite to 
confess it ? And so, on reasoning as shallow as this, 
we yielded our birthright, and, for an hour's pleasure, we 
received a stain upon our souls, the scars of which can 
yet be seen ; and the moment that we yielded we and 
Esau became very nearly, strangely, and sorrowfully 
connected. 

Again, have we bartered off our soul's gift in order 
to secure vast possessions ? If so, we probably excuse 
ourselves thus : Abundance brings hosts of friends, 
myriads of comforts, a glorious leisure, great power, 
and mighty influence. Ay, it is good to help churches, 
extend charities, and build up civilization, so that, in 
order to get a large estate, we pretend to maintain that 
one may deceive a little here and there, have a granite 
heart, slightly forget the beatitudes, and all this price 
is nothing, provided the end desired is reached ; and 
therefore we will throw into the mill that grinds out 



THE SELLING OF OUR BIRTHRIGHT 



249 



our coin our honor, judgment, affections, ay, recklessly, 
all that we have. 

Again, one wishes to be famous; and so, in o r der 
to become so, he relinquishes the chartered rights of 
infancy, for such a person argues thus, it may be : 
What is the use of living unless we can live to some 
purpose ? How can any one live to a purpose without 
notoriety ? And how can one become extensively liked, 
vastly influential, and really a power in society, without 
a slight sacrifice of principle, a twisting of the truth, and 
a little covering up of the conscience? If we live in 
the world, such exclaim, we must conform to the world, 
must not be too nice in our criticisms, too strict in our 
views, and too puritanical in our habits ; and, in order 
to be called a first-rate man or a first-rate woman, we 
have to graze against Bible precepts, and for influence, 
for extensive influence, for a commanding influence, we 
have to keep heaven a little in the shade. Thus many 
weakly reason, and thus they sell their birthrights. 

Ah, my friends, have I overstated the case ? As we 
review our past lives, are we not convinced that many 
a time we have made poor spiritual bargains, and that 
we have often sacrificed character to convenience, duty 
to inclination, many precious opportunities for honors, 
prizes, and glories that are both fleeting and useless ? 
As we look back, are we not surprised how foolish we 
have been, and do we not see how many sacrifices we 
have made in order to secure mere phantoms of the air ? 
As we gaze upon our lives, we are never satisfied with 
anything that we have done that was wrong; and, while 
our good deeds loom up with glorious radiance, noble 



250 SERMONS 

opportunities improved seem golden as we review them, 
and spiritual diamonds collected are prized with great 
joy. Not so do we think of idle hours, wicked thoughts, 
and unholy ways, for these all look black as night, and 
they have no beauty about them, while we wonder how 
they could ever have worn such attractive garments ; 
and, if we could make our lives all over again in a min- 
ute, we should make them all virtuous, and then we 
should desire to die before the glory had departed ! 

The picture of the artist was always to my mind one 
of great, massive, and holy significance ; and it cannot 
be too often described. The story is somewhat like 
this : A stranger gazed upon the painting of a child 
that represented a beautiful boy. He had an angel 
face, with mild, beaming, and spiritual expression which 
called out the richest and the deepest thinking, and 
which made one feel very holy and very near to heaven. 
Perhaps the stranger thus talked with himself : Such 
a child as this portrait represents will make a good, 
great, and glorious man ; and many will be the hearts 
that he will cheer, holy will be the influence that he 
will shed. He will go about like his Master, doing 
good; and when at last, in the course of time, death 
claims his body, vast will be the train of mourners that 
will go about the streets, and hushed will be the tones 
of men as they speak of the departed. Bells will toll, 
and crape will hang upon the human arm or, what is 
better, will drape the human heart. Children will weep, 
they know not why; while parents will feel that one 
great benefactor, one holy example, and one brilliant 
light has been quenched. So the stranger buys the 



THE SELLING OF OUR BIRTHRIGHT 25 1 

painting for a talisman, and hangs it upon his parlor 
wall, and daily looks at it for comfort, joy, and peace ; 
and he cares not for whom it was taken, as long as it 
evidently represents a child of God. 

Years pass away, and the stranger grows old, and the 
painting has become valuable as a memorial of the past. 
All at once, circumstances call the owner of the picture 
to the same town, and the very place where he pur- 
chased the prize ; and, while there, he hears of one who 
is to be executed for theft and murder. Out of the 
kindness of his heart he visits him, and then learns, 
to his astonishment, that this assassin, this midnight 
prowler, and this confirmed sinner is the very person 
whose childhood was so pure, whose splendid infant 
face he had prized so much, and whose picture had so 
entranced him for years. So overcome was he by the 
discovery that, before the execution of the criminal, he 
had his face taken again, and when he reached his home 
he hung the two pictures side by side : the innocent 
child, the angel boy, and the little cherub ; but, right 
opposite, the old sinner, the dilapidated criminal, and 
the blood-stained convict. 

My friends, to one of those pictures I point as the 
representation of each one of us when we have our 
birthright in our own keeping, consecrated to our own 
use, and destined for our coronation ; and to the other 
picture I point as the representation of those who have 
lost their birthrights, who have sold them for ashes, 
and who have parted with the divine image that was 
stamped upon them in infancy. May God, through 
Jesus Christ, help us to keep our birthright ! What 



252 SERMONS 

shall God say to us, as we enter the other world, if,, 
after He has sent us here clothed with such grand pos- 
sibilities, bearing the angel mark, with souls capable of 
such a grand revealing, we yet deliberately rub out our 
sacred history, deny our divine relationship, and leave 
life so covered with sin that no one can recognize us as 
belonging to or as having any relationship with that 
infant who was baptized with our name, and who stood 
in our place ? 

How did Jesus treat his birthright, and what does 
his example teach us ? The birthright of Jesus was 
one, of course, peculiar to himself, since he was ordained 
to become the Saviour of the world ; but the way in 
which he met the call that was made upon him is 
worthy of our special study. I suppose that it is well 
understood by all who are in the least acquainted with 
the state of the times in which Jesus lived, who are con- 
versant with the tone of thought then existing, who have 
sifted the tyranny of the Romans, weighed the expec- 
tations of the Jews, searched the rabbi's prophetic in- 
terpretations, — I suppose such understand that Jesus 
could, in a worldly sense, have become a very great, 
rich, and popular man ; and I am inclined to think that, 
strong as the Roman government then was, he could 
easily, with the power that was placed in his keeping, 
have given to it a fatal wound, if not a complete over- 
throw. The enthusiasm of the Jews was at the highest 
pitch ; and all that it was necessary for him to do was 
simply to say to the Hebrews : I am the King pre- 
dicted. Bring your arms, get ready for battle ! I will 
lead you. God is with us. The tyrants will be over- 



THE SELLING OF OUR BIRTHRIGHT 253 

thrown. And all the force that he would want was 
ready for him, and the people only waited for the call 
to war ; and he might have placed himself en the 
throne of the Caesars, and thus have governed in time 
the then known world. He knew what he was able to 
do ; but he spurned the temptation, and exclaimed, 
" My kingdom is not of this world." He knew what 
he could do ; but, what was better, he knew what he 
ought to do, understood the very obligations of his 
birth, and chose, at the call of duty, to give up royalty, 
power, wealth, and glory for temporary suffering, pov- 
erty, disgrace, and seeming death. He knew that the 
honors of this world did not amount to much, that they 
were short-lived, and that they perished in the using ; 
and he also knew that truth was eternal, and that the 
one who carried out his God-given nature would always, 
however dark the struggle and painful the discipline, 
exert a holy influence, and shed abroad a righteous fra- 
grance. 

So we, my friends, ought to study into what God 
would have us to be, and we ought to know the rights, 
glories, and sanctities of our birth, and we should fully 
understand what God has made us capable of becom- 
ing ; and then, with no faltering step, with no false 
pride, with no unworthy fear, we are to march on the 
road to duty, come what will. We are to march on, 
with an angel countenance, with prayer on our lips, 
with the Bible in our hands, with God and Christ in 
our hearts ; and we are to march on, although scorners 
laugh, sinners mock, and battalions of fiends attempt 
to overthrow us. Never, oh, never, let us despise our 



254 SERMONS 

birthrights, and ever and forever let us call them sweet,, 
precious, and divine ; and, when we come to pass from 
the mortal to the immortal, may our birthrights still be 
with us, so that, as we appear before God, He may see 
that the great trust committed to our keeping has not 
been bruised, shattered, and destroyed ! 



XXVI. 

WALKING WITH GOD. 

" Enoch walked with God." — Gen. v. 22. 

TT is a great thing, a sublime privilege, a comfortable 
benediction, and a glorious consecration, when one 
walks with God ; although very many people prefer to 
walk with somebody else until their last sickness, and 
then want just such a companion, while they express sin- 
cere remorse that they have neglected such blessed com- 
pany to so late an hour. But Enoch, wiser than such 
persons, walked with his heavenly Father continually, — 
morn, noon, and evening, in the beginning, middle, and 
end of his being, — so that, at last, he found himself 
translated all at once to the Celestial Kingdom ; and 
let us go and do likewise. 

Let us walk with God at morn. Oh, a religious 
childhood, — how beautiful, grand, and sublime it is ! 
Nay, is there not something strangely unnatural, sadly 
repulsive, and terribly mournful in a youth of sin ? Do 
we not expect all our children to be generous, noble, 
true, pure, and holy, so that, when they swerve even 
the least from the simplicity of innocence, a chill, a 
cold, icy chill, runs to the very roots of the heart, fills 



256 SERMONS 

us with an awful gloom, and throws us upon our knees 
in the deepest agony ? No one likes to see a worm in 
the bud ; for we all wish to have these little emblems 
of beauty and fragrance and sweetness just as attractive 
as possible, and removed from everything that tres- 
passes in the least upon weakness, *decay, and wrong. 
Of course, a boy will sometimes be a real boy, and a girl 
will be a real girl, — playful, roguish, a little disobedient, 
and at times wild, very wild ; here and there and every- 
where where danger seems pre-eminent, sending a jar to 
our nerves, upsetting our patience, keeping us in a fever 
of discontent, and often making us right up and down ex- 
cited. But we cannot expect these little women and little 
men to be complete saints ; but we do expect, we have a 
right to expect, and we should never cease to demand, 
an underground of holiness, a foundation of righteous- 
ness, well-established principles, a tender conscience, a 
pure imagination, and a real hearty and holy reverence 
for celestial mysteries. A thoroughly wicked child 
makes us hang our heads in shame, while a whole com- 
munity cries out against the men or the women who try 
to make children wicked ; and all this goes to show that 
we assign to childhood a peculiar relationship to good- 
ness, holiness, and peace. 

To the young, then, I say, with peculiar earnestness, 
Fulfil the high calling of your royalty! Do not try to 
mimic the follies of your elders, even their pardonable 
weaknesses shun with all your strength ; and let it be 
known that you are priests in the temple, that you 
stand in the holy of holies, and that you mean, as long 
as God shall give you this gracious opportunity of ap- 



WALKING WITH GOD 257 

proach to himself, to be true to your position, and hon- 
orably to discharge the duties that are incurred by the 
possession of such a sacred privilege. 

Again, my friends, walk with the Father at noon. Do 
not think that because you step into active life you are 
able to go alone, for there never was a greater or a more 
fatal or a more sad mistake, as it is then the very time 
for aid, direction, inspiration, and comfort, such as a 
power more than mortal alone can give. Never are 
temptations so thick, sins so plenty, dangers so over- 
whelming, hypocrisy so rampant, and enemies of all 
kinds so massive, venomous, and deadly ; and without 
a guide one is sure to be lost in such a fearful thicket 
of difficulties, so that all time is covered with the terri- 
ble wrecks of those who have tried by their own might 
to stem such a mighty torrent. 

A young man goes into a store without the Eternal 
Guide ; and he says, My honest face is a recommenda- 
tion, my sterling principles will sustain me, my high 
sense of honor will be enough to keep me straight, 
while he is offended, and terribly offended, if any one 
says, There must be something more and something 
better, stronger, and holier. For a while everything 
goes well, for the tempter never springs his trap upon 
the victim till he is sure of the game ; and he tries him 
with sweetmeats, honeyed words, and adroit artifices, 
in order to lead him gently on to destruction. Of 
course, the young man at the first drives back all the 
fascinations of wrong, holds his head high up against 
bribes, and stands upon his preconceived integrity. 
What ! think to tempt me ? he virtually exclaims ; and 



258 SERMONS 

yet, before very long, the profits of sin outweigh the 
reasons against the performance, logic slips all on the 
weak side, principle reels in its socket, bribery becomes 
more attractive than a self-made virtue, while the appeal 
to stand straight, being no higher than self-interest, is 
driven aside, resistance is demolished, and your nice 
young man, your pattern young man, and he who 
laughed at a higher voice than his own will, is covered 
all over with shame. 

Or the young girl says she is strong enough of her- 
self, she scorns the idea of the necessity of any special 
religious help, exclaims that no one of good common 
sense need ever offend in any way ; and so she tries 
the experiment, while the result is, as it must inevitably 
become in a case like that, a fearful failure. But the 
one who takes the higher Guide is armed at all points, 
so that no surprise ever causes a defeat. Nay, more : 
oftentimes one thus prepared, by the very sacredness 
of the panoply, keeps off temptation ; and the tempter 
does not dare to come near to those who shine with the 
glorious brightness of the Mount. 

There are those to whom no one would dare to sug- 
gest an evil thought or a sinful deed or anything of 
doubtful expediency ; for something in the eye, manner, 
and voice of the favored ones keeps in a due restraint 
those who go about seeking whom they may devour. 
Then how much easier the intricate passages of life are 
passed, if some one goes with the inexperienced, who 
knows the way, can throw a bridge over all the chasms, 
and make the issue all glorious, inspiring, and beautiful. 
Thus anxiety goes to sleep, toil is sweetened, pain is 



WALKING WITH GOD 259 

consecrated, ay, even death itself is lighted up with a 
radiance that is truly sublime. Who cares what each 
day may bring, if the elixir be carried in the heart 
which will change whatever comes into a blessing, and 
will keep all permanent loss, sorrow, and trouble at an 
eternal distance ? 

As the followers of Mohammed rushed into battle 
jubilantly, because they believed that death would bring 
their souls into the most perfect bliss of which their 
uneducated hearts could possibly conceive, so the young 
man or the young woman, who has the true Guide, is 
ready for all things, because in everything he or she 
detects a hidden prize ; and they know how to wrest 
the diamond from its dark, unpromising, and secret 
grave. 

Again I say to all youthful ones, and to all in mid-life, 
Do not work alone, do not face, all by yourselves, the 
fearful dangers that cling around the hours, do not lean 
upon pride, ambition, self-conceit, gold, nor upon any- 
thing material and perishing ; but have for a support 
something that cannot fail, and for a companion some- 
body that cannot change, and for a rescue a power that 
makes all other powers succumb, and turn pale, and 
turn away. Walk with the Almighty, hold His hand, 
and lean upon His bosom, trust in His promises ; and 
then all time and all eternity will be yielding you a 
blessing, and filling you with a peace, and covering you 
with a glory such as no mortal can possibly describe. 

Walk with the Almighty at eve. In old age we need 
this heavenly encouragement ; for an aged person who 
clings only to the perishable is indeed a pitiable sight. 



260 SERMONS 

Ah ! can that forehead smooth itself out again ? Can 
those eyes become fully strong once more, and shine 
with fresh vigor ? Can those cheeks once again get the 
flush and fulness of youth ? and can the body regain a 
perfect health ? 

There was once a fabled spring, in which all who 
entered found a renewal of their childhood ; but has 
anybody ever found the famous place, and have any of 
the vast army of impostors ever dared to promise a 
medicine that would take old age away ? No ! no ! 
And the decline of life, all by itself, with no upward 
look, fastened only to things of time, and knowing 
nothing but that which perishes, is something of which 
we do not like to think or speak or dream. But, if all 
aged ones have a support like Enoch's, then they have 
nothing to fear, everything to hope ; and, though the 
body fails, the soul grows young, beautiful, and strong, 
and, although the outward man sinks, the inward man 
is renewed. Yes, all aged ones need God. As earth 
fades, as friends of former days depart, as recollection 
becomes the foremost faculty of the mind, the present, 
as it were, being buried with the past, as peculiar cus- 
toms arise, new faces spring up, changes innumerable 
take place, as sight gets dim, hearing hard, motion an 
effort, and even speech a fatigue, then, oh, then, what 
shall the aged ones do, unless the pilot, the everlasting 
pilot be on board the boat of life, and points to the 
Eternal Shore, and unless the great " I am " shall fold 
the wearied ones to His blessed heart, and shall grant 
to them a perfect peace ? Earth, with such a support, 
may recede, objects fade or alter, friends change or 



WALKING WITH GOD 26 1 

disappear, strength decline, — it matters not, oh, no, it 
matters not ; for the Eternal Arm will save, bless, and 
re-create. One has beautifully said as she gazed at all 
the different periods of our lives : — 

" Walk with the Lord at morn, 
When every scene is fair, 
While opening buds the boughs adorn, 
And fragrance fills the air. 
Before the rosy dawn awake, 
And in thy being's pride, 
Thy first young blush of beauty make 
Omnipotence thy guide. 

" Walk with the Lord at noon, 
When fervid suns are high, 
And Pleasure with her treacherous boon 
Allureth manhood's eye, 
Then with the diamond shield of prayer 
Thy soul's opposers meet, 
And crush the thorns of sin and care 
That pierce the pilgrim's feet. 

" Walk with the Lord at eve, 
When twilight dews descend, 
And nature seems a shroud to weave, 
As for some smitten friend. 
While slow the lonely moments glide 
On mournful wing away, 
Press closer, closer to His side, — 
His arm shall be thy stay. 

" Even shouldst thou linger here, 
Till midnight spreads its pall, 
And age laments with bosom drear 
Its buried earthly all, 



262 SERMONS 

Thy withered eyes a signal bright 
Beyond the grave shall see ; 
For He who maketh darkness light, 
Thy God, shall walk with thee." 

But, my friends, if we will walk with God, He will 
walk with us closer and ever the closer, as we the more 
and the more need His blessed presence, grace, and 
care ; and this is the beautiful thought that God will 
walk with us in our joys, making them each day more 
bright, holy, and sending a perfect constellation of stars 
in the horizon of our experience. He will walk with 
us in our sorrows, so that magnificent rainbows shall 
arch them, by which our faith will shine with a dia- 
mond splendor. He will be with us in every event that 
greets us, so that all the items of our lives shall be 
glorious gifts of power that are showered down upon 
us from the Eternal Throne. Oh, how fortunate we 
are to be so attended, glorified, and blessed ! But who 
will place the Father's hand in ours ? Who will lead us 
to the King of kings ? Who will, for a while it may be 
and perhaps forever, stand in His place, being His per- 
fect image and representation ? And who is it that 
has brought heaven so near, made eternal truths so 
real, poured such holy light upon us from the Celestial 
City, and opened the peace of God upon our weary 
souls ? A voice out of the skies replies, " This is my 
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased " ; and an- 
other voice out of the Scriptures speaks, " I and my 
Father are one " ; and still another voice, all sweet, 
solemn, and consoling, " Come unto me, all ye who are 
weary and heavy-laden, and /will give you rest." How 



WALKING WITH GOD 263 

can one help exclaiming, "Lord, I believe, help thou 
mine unbelief" ? If Enoch walked with God, so much 
more did Jesus; for he has been called " Immamiel" 
which, being interpreted, means " God with us." 

Let us, then, keep very near to Jesus ; for thus and 
thus only shall we secure all the armies of heaven as 
workers in our behalf. 



XXVII. 

THE TRUE SELF. 

" Look to yourselves." — 2 John 8. 

VERY few people are willing to allow that they 
are selfish, and yet the number is quite large of 
those who are glad to label everybody else so ; but, in 
making such a charge, we are apt to forget that the 
accusation, like a rubber ball, may sometimes bound 
back, injure our own hearts, and leave a dent upon our 
own characters, since the easy transfer of a wrong to 
a neighbor, the application of abusive terms to those 
around us, and the looking out for flaws in somebody 
else, are very apt to be clear indications that we may 
possibly have gone astray in the same direction. "Each 
one for himself" is the motto of almost everybody in 
the world ; for the child is taught it as soon as he 
begins to think, and the old man repeats it just on the 
brink of his departure. And from youth to age, through 
city, town, and nation, in cot and in palace and every- 
where, each one unmistakably declares, if not from the 
lips, at least from the life, that each one's duty is to 
exalt self in honor, wealth, power, and all things that 
are considered good. I feel, however, that this ten- 
dency, that is so universal, so applauded, and is such a. 



THE TRUE SELF 265 

positive mark in the make-up of humanity, cannot be 
wholly sinful, must cover some deep truth, point to a 
great reality, and be the token of a fact stern, earnest, 
and vital, — a fact that concerns us all, opens some of 
God's dealings with us, explains some of the precepts 
of Jesus Christ, excavates some of the mysteries of the 
soul, and clears away many of the obstructions which 
clog the true road to glory. In fact, we cannot live very 
long in the world without finding out that every wrong 
suggests a right ; for right and wrong exist by contract, 
and their life depends upon their opposition, and each 
recalls the other, — as theft, honesty ; falsehood, truth ; 
impious, pious ; and so on. 

We ask you therefore, at this time, to view selfishness 
in two ways ; first think of its sad side, and then see if 
it does not have somehow, by a holy, noble interpreta- 
tion, uplifting and splendid suggestions ; and we would 
also ask you to look at the impossibility of selfism, to 
sift the philosophy of it, and to find out, as far as you can, 
how Jesus robed the self in glory, by a transformation, 
enlargement, and glorification of its meaning; and we 
desire to maintain, too, that the great study, work, and 
thought of man must be self, with the noble interpreta- 
tion, in the richness of its best reference, in the might 
of its truest power, in the solemnity of its responsibility, 
and in the glory of its tremendous destiny. 

"Each one for himself," as a motto for life, when 
viewed on its sad side, explains many of the difficulties 
that harass us all, day by day ; for families are disturbed 
by such a principle, honesty is involved, cities are pol- 
luted, nations are embroiled, and the best part of all of 



266 SERMONS 

us is smothered. Caesar, Alexander, Napoleon, might 
have been saints, had they kept the self in subjection ; 
and so, many are the wars that would never have been 
waged, and millions the homes that never would have 
been rent, had personality been concealed. In fact, the 
great key that will unlock all the mystery of crime, and 
explain or attempt to justify all the follies in the earth, 
is that word " selfishness " ; for in that expressive term 
are coiled up the furies who make their excursions from 
time to time, to desolate the earth at the mandates of 
temptation. "I want," "I must have," and "I will 
have," — ah! these words enfold, in the forces that they 
create, the havoc that they justify, the hearts that they 
break, a sad picture, which makes the blood run cold. 

Many of us, also, are tutored in childhood to think 
much of our own powers, are often told to aim at great- 
ness, and to try to obtain, in some way or in any way, 
public favor, honor, and applause, because otherwise 
existence is said to be a failure ; and we are urged to 
seek wisdom, but only that admiring crowds may some 
day surround us, — or to cultivate a spirit for trade, but 
only that the might of our coin may increase our in- 
fluence and our comforts. Or, if our tastes are toward 
the arts and the sciences, we are urged to copy a New- 
ton or a Fulton or a Franklin, but only that their fame 
may be somewhat borrowed, and that our names, like 
theirs, may bound over time and be gratefully mentioned 
on the lips of all true thinkers. With these incentives 
in our early days, when earthly glory is made to eclipse 
the heavenly, and when fame and a name are paraded 
before us as terms more befitting than consecration and 



THE TRUE SELF 267 

eternity, what wonder that our soundings are all home- 
ward, that we never drift away from our own harbor, 
and that we draw perpetual drafts on the world for our 
whims, wishes, and wants ! And as exclusiveness is 
our legacy, what wonder that we appropriate it ! or is it 
strange that, when our day is ended, we bequeath it ? 
This is no modern fact and no new-fangled notion, for 
it is the history of the ages ; not a necessity, but a 
terrible habit of the race, that is not likely very soon to 
die out, for everything favors it. 

The glorious division of the world into families, — a 
clanship that angels bless, — and the marshalling of 
families into cities, towns, States, kingdoms, empires, 
all grand, noble, and divine, if rightly viewed, purely 
examined, and with a Christian spirit greeted, when 
wrongly understood, or impiously received, or sacrile- 
giously accepted, have driven the whole world into con- 
flict, and have thrust the " I," the " mine," and the 
" ours " into unholy, fearful, and overwhelming promi- 
nence. Home, so blessed, dear, sacred, and heaven-like, 
has, by man's sad reception of it, often become the very 
opposite, and has been changed into a citadel, or turned 
into a fortress, or worked into a battlement, out of 
which unceasing and deadly bullets fly, scorching, vex- 
ing, and smothering a neighborhood. 

So, also, cities, States, and kingdoms, that, rightly 
viewed, ought to be peaceful, useful, pure, happy, and a 
joyous blessing to those inhabiting them, when an undue 
stress is placed upon individual rights, when too great 
prominence is given to personal prowess, and when law is 
too strictly regarded at the expense of mercy, have be- 



268 SERMONS 

come pests, scorpions, plague-spots, and historic warn- 
ings, the dread of man and the sorrow of God. View 
Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, and myriads of other places 
that stretch across history, bridge space, notch time, and 
utter their everlasting, ever gloomy, and ever terrible 
protest against all selfish wrong ! We must then allow 
— or give up history, surrender eyesight and insight, 
crush revelation, put down all judgment, and dismiss all 
thought — that there is a side to selfishness that is sad, 
that explains all the horrors of sin, that clasped our 
ancestor's thought and action when he partook of the 
forbidden fruit, and that has descended to us and is 
passing on to generations yet unborn, a sad side that 
we should strive with all our powers to root out, by our 
universal supplications, vigorous sacrifices, consecration 
to duty, and every honest effort of lip, arm, and life, 
or, if it be demanded of us, by our willing, jubilant, 
and speedy death. 

But we have already admitted, while we are never to 
forget, that which we have too seldom remembered, 
that there are noble suggestions nestling in this per- 
sonal seeking, and that there is a sense in which each 
one must look out for himself or for herself, and that our 
duty to God, our relations to Christ, and our affiliation 
with each other demand this personal work of all of us. 
We are to find out that, when we truly, nobly, and 
splendidly care for ourselves, then we are most sincerely 
generous to others, are the greatest benefactors of the 
race, and send holy telegrams all over the earth and all- 
through heaven. We are constantly to remember that, 
when we truly build up our own characters, then we are 



.:-:z _r."z 5zi3 269 

creating the lever that will help us to uplift the world. 
Our healing must begin at home ; for even' inconsist- 
ency in the heart that we check is a donation to the 
world. Each one's work must be a home-work, and the 
inward life is developed only on the grounds of perpet- 
ual self-reference : but the spiritual hero becomes so, 
not only by his tuition or by his intuition, by his obser- 
vation or by his reflection, but by his outgiving, which 
proves the richest income, and by his self-sacrifice, 
which results in the giver's coronation. 

We grow by expression, expansion, and charity. Our 
honors are built over a neighbor's gratitude, and we 
truly live by helping others to live. Thus we make the 
world ourselves, thus heaven is created in our breasts, 
and thus our vital happiness rises out of the thought 
that we are pleasing God, Jesus, the angels, and our 
fellow-beings. This is the true way of enriching our 
own store, — not bv building our fortune over another's 
cries, wants, shame, curse, and despair, but raising the 
temple of character over another's abundance, love, pu- 
rity, and thank sgivings, that some sen-ice of ours has 
caused. Howard, Wilberforce, Oberlin, Fenelon, and 
all men of that stamp, are those whose main care ' 
and is for self ; but such have made self the poor, lame, 
blind, diseased, sick, and the dying, and such are those 
who have converted the self into the all, who acknowl- 
edge no being but universality, and whose throbs beat 
time with the heart-throbs of the whole world. 

We have learned a great lesson, when we thus define 
ourselves, when we thus establish our dignity, and 
when our self means all the people who need help, 



270 SERMONS 

peace, comfort, and love. The idea with the true soul 
is not to get to heaven, but to live heaven, so far as 
possible, to make heaven, to spread celestial light every- 
where; and those seeking enjoyment in this manner 
please themselves, but they also please Almighty God. 

It is this spirit of sacrifice that is no sacrifice, be- 
cause it is the heart's delight, it is this giving that 
is no giving, but taking, and it is this love universal, 
and yet particular, and it is this spirit of outspending 
and investment that leads to the building up of our 
asylums, starts homes for the poor, shelter for the aged, 
retreats for orphans, and counsel for the sick and dying. 

The reconcilement of brotherhood and the unity of 
humanity, all one in each other, and all one in Christ 
and in God, — ah! here we have the grand doctrine that 
must be learned, preached, and lived. When we lose 
our identity only to find it enlarged, to see it binding 
continents and blessing want and woe in all places, 
then we understand very clearly what kind of self-glory 
God blesses, and then we see how we can make our- 
selves mighty by consecrating our strength to the 
world and to heaven. And then we detect how the 
holiest marriage service between our souls and all souls 
can be majestically celebrated, so that there shall be a 
unity in diversity, and so that the widest service can 
be reduced to a beautiful simplicity. 

Again, my friends we are to bear in mind that self- 
ishness on its sad side is impossible save in motive. 
Our ideas may be all hostile to generosity, our plans 
a curse to the race. We may really mean to assert our 
independence, we may desire to stand up alone and 



THE TRUE SELF 27 1 

unprotected, and we may say that we are capable of 
managing our own powers and our own gifts without 
loaning or selling or disclosing our accomplishments, — 
yes, this may be our plan ; but we cannot carry it out, 
for we are so made that we must communicate. We 
can retain nothing in our grasp ; and in time all that 
we have and all that we are will be found out and ap- 
propriated. Such is the law of life. Action must be 
somewhat generous, and outgiving is a necessity. Now, 
I contend that the noble view of ourselves is an earnest 
yielding to this inevitable law, a rejoicing in it, a lifting 
it up to the highest eminence, and a raising of it to the 
purest atmosphere, by which duty is made a pleasure, 
a fact becomes a glory, and God's law becomes our law, 
life, and peace. 

Many volumes have been issued since the genesis of 
the world that are pervaded with a gloomy view of man 
and goodness, that are thoroughly saturated with scep- 
tical doubts and morose fancies, that assert that all men 
act from personal motives, and that sneer at all preten- 
sions to benevolence, all encomiums of charity, and all 
benefactors. Wisely and weakly have these sages ar- 
gued, mixing truth with falsehood, blending imagination 
with reality, and uniting their shallow deductions with 
the deepest, strongest, the most glorious common sense. 
Such exclaim : Everybody works for his own honor ! 
There is no goodness that is not a barter. There is no 
virtue that is not an investment ; and there is no holi- 
ness that does not expect a large per cent, on its capi- 
tal. 

Be it so, let us reply, not as you mean it, — never, — 



272 SERMONS 

but as God means it ; not in the restricted sense that 
you assume, but in that glorious sense which, through- 
out the whole life of Christ, is implied where the world 
is dwarfed to a unit, and where this beautiful unit 
magnifies itself till it becomes the world. With this 
view, our Saviour's history becomes richly illuminated 
from the manger to the grave ; and we discover the 
majesty of that self-ennoblement which took the shape 
of self-sacrifice, we notice the brilliancy of that life that 
measured eternity in its grasp, we rejoice at the might 
of that wisdom that reduced to oneness believers of all 
ages, and that uttered that startling but comforting 
prayer, " that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art 
in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us." 
Jesus magnified himself, and for this reason he resigned 
the glories of heaven, became like a man, lived, preached, 
suffered, and died ; but he defined himself, as a vine 
with many branches, and thus he took within his per- 
sonality the believers of all ages. 

" Look to yourselves." The words of the text are 
a solemn exhortation, and they demand self-scrutiny, 
call for the deepest watchfulness, and will admit of 
nothing save a boundless philanthropy and a love un- 
scorched by care or pain or abuse. We are called upon 
to wake up to the duties of every day, to keep ourselves 
armed against temptation, to live each hour as if it were 
the last, and to be in constant harmony with heaven 
and earth, that thus we may always be the source of 
light, wisdom, and strength to all around us, find our 
truest peace, richest growth, and mightiest power in our 
unceasing benefactions. Thus and thus only can we 



THE TRUE SELF 273 

grow grand, beautiful, and sublime. For the poet 
says : — 

" The simplest flowers, with honeyed sweetness stored, 
The smallest thing may happiness afford ; 
A kindly word may give a mind repose, 
Which, harshly spoken, might have led to blows ; 
The smallest crust may save a human life ; 
The smallest act may lead to human strife ; 
The smallest touch may cause the body pain ; 
The slightest spark may fire a field of grain ; 
The simplest act may tell the truly brave ; 
The smallest skill may serve a life to save ; 
The smallest drop the thirsty may relieve ; 
The slightest look may cause the heart to grieve ; 
The slightest sound may cause the mind alarm ; 
Naught is so small, but it may good contain, 
Afford us pleasure, or award us pain." 



XXVIII. 

SPIRITUAL ARITHMETIC. 

" Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee ; what shall we 
have therefore ? " — Matt. xix. 27. 

WHAT shall we have ? That question sounds very- 
natural, it is just what we might have supposed 
that the disciples would have asked ; and very likely, 
you and I, had we been there, would have asked the 
same thing, for people are very much alike in all ages. 
Of course, these Jews were anxious to know whether 
the sacrifices that they had made would be richly 
rewarded. They really desired to find out whether they 
had given up their religion, friends, and their all for 
nothing or for something worth securing, and for a rich 
harvest that would prove a glorious remuneration for 
all trouble, and they were rather in a bad situation, 
unless they could see something better in the future ; 
for they were exiles, traitors, outcasts, and deniers, and 
they were judged, by the majority of the people of that 
day, as fools, madmen, and knaves. They had left an 
honored religion, given up home associations, and for- 
saken daily avocations for a wild and a roving life, for 
a couch on the ground and the night sky bending over 
them, and for the privilege of living on a begrudged 



SPIRITUAL ARITHMETIC 275 

charity ; and they had done all these things in order to 
become followers of One who was rejected by men, 
whose name was a reproach, and whom the leading 
Church had rejected. Thus far it had been all loss, 
shame, and agony with them and they could not help 
asking : How is all this to turn out ? What shall we 
have by and by? Is there to be no end to our giv- 
ing up ? and shall we not at some time receive honors,, 
comforts, and rewards ? 

Poor creatures ! They expected a great deal, and had 
earned a great deal ; but their chief mistake consisted 
in their misapprehension of the nature of the Master's 
kingdom. If they had really understood Jesus, they 
would not have spoken of sacrifice, thought of pain, 
and desired to peer into the future, but would simply 
have kept on working, waiting, suffering, enduring, and 
being misunderstood, till the mystery was cleared up,, 
the veil was lifted, and the Apocalypse was disclosed. 
They took worldly views, and wanted their pay while 
they lived, and wanted it in the shape of wealth, posi- 
tion, and power, for they thought that such things must 
of course produce happiness ; but they made a very 
common mistake. Having and being, possession and 
character, show and substance, are two very different 
things, for what is given to us or what we make will 
never, of themselves, do us any good ; but the most 
important thing is what we are. The disciples, if their 
minds had been spiritually illuminated, would have 
asked, not What will you give to us ? but What will 
you make us ? And they would not have said, Money, 
power, and fame, but they would have said, Grace, truth, 



276 SERMONS 

and redemption. We all look at what we have rather 
than at what we are, although the one is external and 
limited, while the other is internal and everlasting ; for 
what we have will perish, but what we are is forever 
imperishable. When one dies, the very common ques- 
tion is, How much did he leave ? But the great, vital, 
and the all-absorbing question should be, How much 
did he take with him ? For it is no matter what he 
was worth here, but it is all matter what he will be 
worth there. In our estimates of men generally, we 
look a great deal more at the external than at the 
internal. We are apt to say, Is he well-to-do ? not Is 
he thoroughly good ? Is he popular ? not Is he pure ? 
What does he have ? not What is he in heart, mind, 
and character ? 

Ah ! when will the time come when we can get behind 
the varnish of a man, and reach his real manhood ? 
When will the time come that respect shall be rendered 
only to a man's true self, and not to the bag that he 
carries with him? And when will a man's chief desire 
be not to leave a large fortune when he dies, but to 
carry a large fortune at that sacred hour into the Eter- 
nal Kingdom, a fortune that shall be shaped in the 
spiritual coin, that will pass unchallenged in the banks 
of heaven. If the disciples could have seen what 
was really coming to them throughout the ages and 
throughout eternity, they would have been satisfied ; 
and if they could have fully understood what their 
influence was to be up even to the present hour, and 
what honors also were awaiting them in the Celestial 
Land, they would at once have shouted their Hallelu- 



SPIRITUAL ARITHMETIC 277 

jahs, and, if they could have been allowed a long view, 
their immediate pangs would have been gladly met. 

Christian friends, do we not have here a direct, up- 
lifting, and pungent lesson for our own hearts ? Why 
do we spend so much of our time in complaint, and 
waste so many precious hours with our worries ? And 
why will we not rest content with the thought that 
everything that God orders will turn out well at last ? 
Let us each one say to ourselves, when we are per- 
plexed, Although I cannot see the end of this difficulty, 
and although there seems to be no end to it, yet there 
is One who will clear up the darkness, straighten out 
the intricacy, unravel the web, and bring all things into 
glorious issues. 

Ah ! we must all of us take long views. Our little 
span of life is nothing, and that by itself may seem to 
be a failure ; and, do what we can, although we do it 
with all our might, with an honest purpose, and with a 
good heart, we may seem to do nothing, and yet we 
are accomplishing a great deal, for we are helping on 
God's great plan, we are working out the Father's 
glorious purposes, and the time will come when we 
shall see that our labor has not been in vain in the 
Lord. No earnest prayer, no devout thought, no kind 
word, no generous deed, and nothing that we do from a 
high, lofty, and holy purpose, is lost ; for all these tell 
their story, work out their destiny, and have their 
glorious echoes, while some day, to our joy, we shall 
count up the grand results. Those disciples seemed to 
be working in vain, but they were building up the 
Christian Church, they were blessing you and me ; and 



278 SERMONS 

billions of hearts hold them in reverence, and thank 
God that they were born. 

" What shall you have ? " do you say, dear followers 
of our Lord ? Why, your names shall be spoken with 
a tender respect by all Christians throughout the land, 
your letters shall be read with a holy earnestness, your 
lives shall be scanned with a devout regard, you shall 
have our admiration, gratitude, love ; and the book 
where your biographies are written, your labors are 
sketched, and your spirit is displayed, shall ever be 
treated by us with a sacred, tender, and beautiful re- 
gard. 

" What shall we have ? " Well, what do we want, — 
for that is the test question, — and are we willing to 
take what is sent, and to call it a blessing in whatever 
guise it may appear ? We ask for wealth, but God may 
see fit to send us poverty ; and are we willing ? Or we 
ask for power, and He may send weakness, and we 
crave fame, and He may send shame and trouble, — 
ay, He may send just the opposite to what we desire ; 
and are we content ? 

We can never be just right, nor feel just right, nor 
stand just right with Almighty God, till we are content 
to take what is sent, and to receive the gift so meekly, 
gratefully, patiently, believingly, and triumphantly that 
it shall reveal its sweet, holy, and gracious benediction. 
Suppose that Christ had answered the disciples just 
according to the level of their own thoughts, and had 
said : What shall you have ? Why, some of you will 
be crucified, some will die by the sword, some will be 
hanged, some will be bathed in boiling oil, some will be 



SPIRITUAL ARITHMETIC 279 

beheaded, some beaten to death, some flayed alive, and 
some shot ; while all, or nearly all, will be constantly 
maltreated, be covered with shame, and die by violence. 
How they would have started as they gazed at such a 
sad catalogue of their future ! What a check to their 
anticipations such a promise would have been ! and 
what a numbness would have fallen upon their hearts ! 
But Jesus thought best not to harrow up their feelings, 
but to carry them beyond their dangers to their glories, 
and beyond their cross to their crown. 

" Behold, we have forsaken all." Well, that all could 
not have been much ; for the disciples were none of 
them very comfortably off, as far as this world was 
concerned. In fact, almost all of them were rather in 
straitened circumstances, and you may smile, perhaps, 
when they speak of their all ; and yet, if they gave up 
everything that they had, even if they possessed but 
very little, it was quite as much of a sacrifice as if the 
richest man of whom you have ever learned consecrated 
the whole of his property to the Church. For the 
widow's mite was the largest gift ever bestowed ; and 
the renown of it nearly nineteen hundred years have 
not quenched. 

However, the disciples gave up a great deal simply 
because they supposed it would prove a good invest- 
ment for them so to do ; and their diseased visions be- 
held thrones, gold, purple, fine linen, heaps of vassals, 
and all the paraphernalia of earthly greatness. But 
when they began to have a doubt about earthly gains, 
when the honors of the world were far out of sight and 
far out of promise, when a suspicion of failure crossed 



25 O SERMONS 

their minds, and when everything looked dark, then, 
of course, they thought of what they had given up. 
They began to think that they had made a bad bargain, 
and they needed encouragement, and they received it, 
not as they supposed, but in a far better way ; for 
Christ said, " Verily I say unto you, That ye which have 
followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man 
shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit 
upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of 
Israel. 

" And every one that hath forsaken houses, or breth- 
ren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, 
or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundred- 
fold, and shall inherit everlasting life." 

I have nothing temporal to give to you, Christ virtu- 
ally said ; and I did not come to make one man great, 
and another man rich, and to increase in any way 
earthly prosperity. But my rewards are more per- 
manent, my honors are more everlasting, and my coin 
is more imperishable ; and, if you follow me, I have 
nothing to say as to what you will be while you dwell in 
the flesh. You may be lonely, obscure, suffering, and 
everything may go against you, for I do not concern 
myself about these small matters; but I can promise 
you rest, peace, joy, opportunity, honor, and glory in 
the Celestial Kingdom, — the place where you will live 
the longest, and about which you should give yourself 
the deepest concern. 

Many good persons think that it is very strange that 
they do not get along better in this world. Why is 
it, they say, that oftentimes the bad succeed and the 



SPIRITUAL ARITHMETIC 



good seem to be wrecked ? and what does this great 
inequality mean ? They might as well ask why the rich 
man of the parable fared sumptuously every day, and 
why Lazarus was condemned to eat the crumbs at his 
door ; or why Nero was surrounded with earthly pomp 
and with gorgeous splendors, and Saint Paul at the same 
time a prisoner at Rome. Our destinies in this world 
are not worth mentioning, when they are compared with 
the vast cycles of eternity ; and the longest human life 
is like a flash of lightning when measured with the 
endless years with which every true soul is crowned as 
a birthright. And do not tell me what a man enjoys 
or suffers here, for that is not worth mentioning ; but 
tell me, if you can, what he will be there, in heaven, 
with God, Jesus, and the angels. Does great here 
always mean great there ? Does rich here always mean 
rich there ? Does poor here always mean poor there ? 
Does God take up our earthly estimates, and say that 
they are grand, inspiriting, merciful, and just what they 
ought to be ? No, not always ; for the scale of rank in 
heaven is different. There the internal, not the ex- 
ternal, is weighed ; and there character, not mere repu- 
tation, is considered. But, friends, if we forsake all 
and follow Christ, we should do so, not because we are 
encouraged by the goading of ambition, or driven by the 
pressure of our fears, or looking for rewards, or fearing 
loss, for we are to love Christ for himself alone, and 
not for what he promises nor for what he threatens ; and 
we ought to follow him, because he is altogether lovely, 
because he so attracts by his gentleness, wins by his 
tenderness, and dazzles all who gaze at him by his 



262 SERMONS 

transcendent purity. Yes, we are to follow him because 
we cannot help doing so, because our eyes will turn 
that way, and because our hearts will not let us be 
traitors. 

There is a legend in the Church that a woman was 
seen running through the streets of Jerusalem, with a 
pot of red-hot coals in one hand and with a cruse of 
water in the other hand ; and that, when she was asked 
what she wanted to do, she replied, With the water I 
am going to put out the abyss, and with the fire I am 
going to burn up heaven, in order that man may love 
God for Himself alone. This legend sets in clear light 
the truth that we wish to illustrate ; for we must not 
be good simply because we want to go to heaven, or 
because we fear, if we are bad, that we shall be lost. 
Ah, no ! for that would be simply a matter of calcula- 
tion, that would be a mere mercantile bargain, and that 
would be utter selfishness. We must forsake all, if 
need be, and follow Christ ; and we must let nothing 
stand between us and him. That proud desire we must 
give up at once, without a parley and without a com- 
promise ; that darling sin we must relinquish, though 
habit has made it so desirable and so delusive ; and 
our creature-comforts we must banish, that obscure our 
vision of righteousness, although for a while we shall 
feel lonely without them. Yes, we must let every- 
thing go, if the demand should be made, provided we 
can lean on the Master's bosom, catch his voice, press 
his hand, and feel very sure that he will always claim 
us as his own. 

We must forsake all ; but what is it that we have 



SPIRITUAL ARITHMETIC 283 

to forsake ? Certainly, nothing good, useful, and pure, 
for there is nothing to be given up that really makes 
life desirable, profitable, and joyous, and everything 
innocent we may keep ; and all that we are asked to 
yield is simply that which we are better without. The 
Christian life has been spoken of too much as a for- 
saking, and thus many have thought it repulsive ; for 
that life is no loss, but it is all gain, and it is no real 
deprivation, but it is all coronation, and blessedness, 
and peace. Do we think that we must give up every- 
thing in order that we may become Christians ? No : 
we must not relinquish anything except our darling 
sins ; and everything else we may keep, consecrate, and 
enjoy. We may keep our merry souls, but we must 
make them melodious with goodness ; we may smile as 
much as ever, but all the time a Christian illumination 
must enrich our mirth ; we may be as successful as 
possible, but everything that we have must be baptized 
with the light of heaven. Yes : let us consecrate intel- 
lect, affections, property, and everything to God and to 
His Son ; and then we shall have peace in this world, 
and we shall receive a joyous welcome as we enter the 
unseen home and the Eternal Kingdom. And then it 
will be said to us by the forgiving grace of Almighty 
God, "Well done, good and faithful servant : enter into 
the joy of your Lord." 



